For the Love of an Angel
by Lowrider
Summary: You know how you think you're destined to do something or be with a certain someone?  The real truth about destiny is, you never know what yours is until it's upon you.  A Takeyako/Miyakeru fic for your pleasure.
1. Author's Foreword

Author's Foreword  
  
Gather around, kiddies! It's time for another story from your friendly neighborhood Lowrider! Yeah, I know I promised something else on my bio page, but that's the funny thing about inspiration. It strikes without warning.  
  
This is an idea that struck me just earlier today, and I decided to get some of it down and put up for consideration. It's certainly a different couple than I've ever seen on FF.net yet. In fact, I think this might be the first fic with this particular couple featured, though if I'm wrong someone can certainly correct me.  
  
What's the couple? I'll let you find out for yourselves. No spoilers here at all. I will say that the 02 DigiDestined ages are as follows:  
  
TK - 15  
  
Kari - 15  
  
Davis - 15  
  
Ken -15  
  
Yolei - 17  
  
Cody - 13  
  
I'll let y'all figure the rest out. ^_^x  
  
Special acknowledgement to chichamunkyhead, by the way, as this story is kind of inspired by If You, which I still contend, is one of the best fics I've ever read.  
  
What's that? A disclaimer? Oh fine, I don't own Digimon or any of the characters, blah blah, you all know the drill by now.  
  
Enough of my banter! On with the fic! Comments and thoughts are welcome as always, and if you wanna flame me…well I won't blame you this time. Even I think this is a strange idea for a story, but I like it nonetheless. Enjoy! 


	2. Crossed Wires

Crossed Wires  
  
~/ Beautiful angel…eyes like chocolate kisses…could you love me back?  
  
Glorious angel…with a sweet, melodic voice…would you love me back?  
  
Oh divine angel…were that you would be my own…can't you love me back?  
  
My dearest angel…if I offer love to you…will you love me back? /~  
  
TK chewed on the cap of his pen as he looked over his most recent bit of poetry in his composition book. He drew in a long breath, sighing to himself as he thought for about the twelfth time that day about the subject of the haiku, as well as about twenty or so other poems he'd written so far that year.  
  
Kari Kamiya had been the fixation of his affections since before Junior High. Whether or not she knew it yet was a question TK battled with day after day. Some days it would seem like she would hardly give him the time of day, and on others she would go out of her way to spend time with him. TK had to laugh to himself as he thought about it all. If it was true that women were fickle, then Kari must be the quintessential woman in that regard.  
  
Complicating the issue, as if it weren't complicated enough already, was TK's would-be rival, Davis Motomiyia. Davis was practically TK's polar opposite. Whereas the true depth and breadth of TK's feelings for Kari was known only to him, Davis seemed to go out of his way to try and prove himself to her at every opportunity. Persistence had paid off for Davis, though, as he and Kari had dated a few times in the past year. TK didn't know how to feel about it, but so long as Kari was happy he figured he could live with his loneliness. At least it gave him fuel for his writing.  
  
TK looked through his composition book again, noticing that he had used half of the last page for his most recent poem. He fished into his pants pocket and checked his wallet for money, relieved to find some cash inside.  
  
"I guess it's time to pay Yolei a visit again. Knowing her, she probably has a new book set aside for me." TK said to himself. He stood up from the park bench he'd been sitting on and headed over a couple of blocks, eventually coming to a small convenience store that was neatly laid out.  
  
Behind the counter stood a purple-haired girl with glasses and a blue kerchief tied around her head. She held a paddle with a rubber ball attached to it by an elastic cord and was repeatedly batting the ball with the paddle, an utterly bored look pasted on her face.  
  
"121…122…123…" she counted as she continued to hit the ball.  
  
"Afternoon Yolei!" TK called from the door.  
  
"12…TK? OUCH!" Yolei yelped in pain as the ball missed the paddle, smacking her in the forehead. She tossed the toy under the counter, grumbling at it. "Stupid thing, I'm gonna end up putting an eye out with it someday."  
  
"Stuck tending the shop again?"  
  
"And on such a beautiful day, no less. I envy you guys quite a bit, you know."  
  
"At least you're getting paid. I can't say I'm earning anything sitting around scribbling in my books all day."  
  
"Believe me, the money does not justify the free time I've lost already, and summer has just begun so it sucks all the more. But I digress. I assume you're here because you need a new book?"  
  
"Yeah, and toss in a box of Pocky while you're at it. I've got the munchies."  
  
"What kind? We've got regular, Men's Pocky, strawberry, coconut…" Yolei went on for about 2 minutes naming every kind of Pocky they sold at the store.  
  
"Uh…just regular thanks. Why do they make so many different kinds?" TK said after Yolei finished her list.  
  
"Hey, I'm just waiting for the day they come out with prune juice flavored Pocky. I'll make a fortune selling a lifetime supply to Cody's grandfather."  
  
"If that happens, let me know and I'll give up writing and open a Pocky store."  
  
"I'll go in with you on it!" Yolei said, laughing at the idea. She set a box of the treat on the counter along with a blank composition book and rang the purchase through. "That'll be 1,250 yen."  
  
"I thought it was usually more?" TK asked as he handed her 2,000 yen.  
  
"Yeah, but you kept me company for at least a little bit here. Consider it a 'thank you discount' from me."  
  
"I much appreciate it, Yolei." TK said as he took his change and his bag of goods.  
  
"So when are you going to ask her out?" Yolei asked, cutting to the chase. TK's expression quickly turned a bit sour.  
  
"Why do you always ask me that question?"  
  
"Because you've never given me an answer that I can accept, TK. Come on, I've seen what you've written about her! You're going to drive yourself nuts if you don't at least ask her out once."  
  
"She'll never say 'yes' though, and Davis will freak out I guarantee it. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt people, and I know my asking her out will do just that."  
  
"So you'd rather suffer by yourself, is that it?"  
  
"You've oversimplifying the situation."  
  
"Have you ever heard the saying 'All's fair in love and war' TK? Well this is love, and just like in war, people get hurt in the process. If you don't at least try and ask Kari out once you'll spend your whole life wondering what it'd be like if you had, and you're the last person I thought would be content to live with his regrets."  
  
"I know you're right, Yolei, but at the same time I just…she's never even so much as given me an indication that she likes me like that at all! I just know I'll end up making an ass out of myself if I ask her out."  
  
"You're not making this easy, TK."  
  
"Nothing in my life has ever been easy."  
  
Yolei bit her lower lip as she thought of how she could get TK to have the guts to ask Kari out.  
  
'It's obvious he'll never do it on his own without some kind of push in the right direction. Though I have to admit, I know how he feels all too well. The difference is, Ken hardly even acknowledges my existence, whereas Kari at least spends some time with TK. There's got to be a way…that's it! It's just crazy enough that it might work!'  
  
"TK, I have an idea for you." She said, stepping out from behind the counter.  
  
"So long as it doesn't involve pineapple juice filled water balloons this time." TK said, smirking at her.  
  
"Hey, it worked to scare away those freaky people that were hanging around the shop that night! Don't argue with results."  
  
"Okay, okay. So what's the plan?"  
  
Yolei smiled as she folded her arms, explaining her plan.  
  
"Sometimes people need a bit of a nudge to start to show their real feelings for someone else. Jealousy can be a way to see just how someone feels about you. You following this so far?"  
  
"I guess. You think I should make Kari jealous to see if she really likes me?"  
  
"Exactly!"  
  
"And just how would I do that?"  
  
"By going on a date or two with another girl!"  
  
"It'll never work."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because, Yolei, the only other girl I really know is…"  
  
TK stopped in mid-sentence as it dawned on him what Yolei's plan was. He began to shake his head 'no' vigorously.  
  
"No. No way. Yolei it won't work!"  
  
"Oh come on! It'll be fun! You and I go out a couple of times, and we'll see just how Kari reacts to it. There's no harm at all."  
  
"How do you figure that?"  
  
"If Kari does like you, the reaction it gets out of her will be plainly evident. If she doesn't react that much, then you'll know for sure and won't have embarrassed yourself. Besides, we know how to have fun TK, and Kari hangs out at all the places we do."  
  
"Well…"  
  
TK considered the plan for a moment. It was a wild one, as was typical of Yolei's schemes, but it did make sense. All else set aside, despite what she thought Yolei was a really pretty girl and TK always thought it was a shame that she never really dated that much.  
  
"Hey guys! What's up?" Kari asked as she stepped into the store. She stretched out a bit as she walked towards TK and Yolei.  
  
"Kari! What brings you here?" Yolei asked, quickly looking over to her friend.  
  
"Oh, just here to get something to drink. What're you guys up to?"  
  
"Nothing much." TK said. It was now or never. "So Yolei, I'll pick you up tomorrow about two 'o clock right?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh, sure thing! I'll be ready, TK!" Yolei said, quickly catching on.  
  
"Great! See you then. Later Kari!" TK headed on out of the store for home. Kari watched him leave and then looked back at Yolei.  
  
"What's going on tomorrow afternoon?" she asked, a puzzled look on her face.  
  
"Oh, you just missed it!" Yolei said, acting all excited.  
  
"Missed what?"  
  
"TK asked me out on a date!"  
  
"Oh." Kari's tone took a sudden turn at Yolei's announcement. "That's…that's nice, I guess."  
  
Kari turned around and started to head back out of the store, her face full of mixed emotions.  
  
"Kari? Aren't you going to get something to drink?"  
  
"No thanks, Yolei, I'm suddenly not thirsty."  
  
Kari left the store quietly, leaving Yolei wondering if this was indeed such a good idea after all.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
'I always thought he'd finally ask me out.' Kari thought on her way home. 'I guess that's what I get for playing hard to get with him. I only went out with Davis those few times to try and get a rise out of TK, and now I've…I've ended up losing him to my best friend.'  
  
As she walked home she barely noticed Davis making his way over to her, as she was lost in thought about TK and Yolei dating.  
  
"Hey Kari! What's shakin'?" Davis asked, energetic as always.  
  
"Nothing." She replied flatly.  
  
"Whoa, I'm sensing some major negativity there. Sure you don't wanna talk about it?"  
  
"Just leave me alone right now, Davis."  
  
"Hey, maybe I could take you out for a movie and some ice cream! That'd cheer you.."  
  
"Just shut up and leave me alone, damn it!" Kari snapped. She was immediately conscious of her outburst, though, and ran off, leaving Davis bewildered.  
  
"What the heck was that all about?" Davis asked no one in particular. He shrugged and continued on his way for a bit until he spotted TK and ran over, trying to get his attention.  
  
"Hey, GJ!" he called out.  
  
"Huh? Oh, hi Davis." TK said, waving to him. "What's up?"  
  
"I was hoping you could tell me. What's up with Kari? She's acting all weird right now."  
  
"She is?"  
  
"Yeah. She actually snapped at me, her own boyfriend!"  
  
"Well, I don't really know Davis. I'd love to help out, but I've got a date to plan out for tomorrow."  
  
"What? You, a date? That's a good one, EK!" Davis said, stifling a chuckle.  
  
"You don't believe me? Ask Yolei, she and I are going out tomorrow night."  
  
"Right, whatever. You're joking."  
  
Davis stopped chuckling a bit to see that TK's face was dead serious.  
  
"It's…a joke right? As in 'ha ha, yeah I'm not actually dating Yolei'?"  
  
TK just blinked at him, still dead serious.  
  
"It's not a joke?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"You're really gonna go out with Yolei?"  
  
"Yeah. What of it?"  
  
"Oh, nothing! Have a good time!"  
  
Davis turned around and headed back for home, walking at first, and then sprinting.  
  
'You've gotta be kidding me! Aw hell, Ken's gonna flip when he hears this!' he thought as he tore his way homeward, eager to call his friend and inform him of the bombshell TK had just dropped on him.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Kari sniffled as she sat at home alone, sobbing. In the same day she'd lost TK to Yolei and had snapped at Davis who had just been trying to cheer her up. She reached for the phone and dialed a number, hoping the other person was at home.  
  
"Hello, Takenouchi residence. Sora speaking."  
  
"Sora? I-I-It's Kari…" Kari said, her voice trembling.  
  
"Kari? What's wrong, are you okay?"  
  
"I need to talk to someone. Can I come over, please?"  
  
"Yes, please! Come over right away!"  
  
"Okay, thank you…"  
  
A few minutes later, Kari was ringing the doorbell to Sora's family's apartment. No sooner did Sora open the door then Kari stepped inside and hugged her, sobbing into her shoulder.  
  
"Kari, what in the world's going on?" Sora asked as she tried to comfort the young girl.  
  
"I've screwed up, Sora…big time." Kari said between sobs. After sitting Kari down on the couch and getting her some water, Sora listened as Kari told her what had happened earlier on.  
  
"This is crazy. Are you sure you heard right?" Sora said, still skeptical about the whole story.  
  
"Yolei told me herself, Sora! What am I going to do?"  
  
"Well, I hate to say it, but there's not a whole lot you can do at this point. If the two of them really want to date, it's their business Kari. I mean, did TK ever say anything to you when you dated Davis?"  
  
"Well no…but I always thought someday he would!"  
  
"So did we for that matter. Something here just doesn't add up." Sora propped her chin in one hand as she tried to think about it all for a minute.  
  
"I should've just asked him out myself. Why did I have to be so stupid and play games with him?" Kari said, beginning to break down again.  
  
"Calm down, Kari. There has to be an explanation behind all of this. Let me call Matt and see what he thinks. If anyone knows TK, it'll be him."  
  
Sora left Kari on the couch for the moment and hit her speed dial button for her boyfriend. She prayed that he hadn't already left for practice yet.  
  
"Yamato here, make it good!"  
  
"It's Sora, Matt. We've got a bit of a problem here."  
  
"What's up? Who's that I hear in the background?"  
  
"It's Kari. She's completely hysterical because…well you'll never believe me."  
  
"It'd take quite a bit to really surprise me to the point of disbelief at this point Sora."  
  
"Your brother is going on a date with Yolei."  
  
"WHAT?! You've got to be kidding me! What kind of stupid joke is this?!"  
  
Sora held the phone away from her ear as Matt shouted through the phone lines.  
  
"Gee, thanks Matt. I didn't need my eardrums!"  
  
"Sorry. That's messed up, though. I'll try and track him down in a couple of days and see what I can get out of him."  
  
"A couple of days??"  
  
"I've got practice tonight and a gig tomorrow, Sora! I promise I'll get over to his place as soon as I can."  
  
"Alright. In the meantime I'll try and help Kari calm down about this."  
  
"Okay. Take it easy Sora. Love ya!"  
  
"You too, Matt."  
  
Sora hung up the phone and returned to Kari, who had managed to get control of herself again, but was nonetheless depressed.  
  
"What do you want to do, Kari?" Sora asked, leaning over the chair where the girl sat.  
  
"I don't know. I always had this idea that TK would come sweep me off my feet like a knight or something corny like that."  
  
"Well don't give up on him entirely. One date isn't the end of the world. Who knows? Maybe they won't be able to stand each other afterwards."  
  
"Maybe…"  
  
"Well we've got to get you to stop moping, Kari. I guess this calls for a Takenouchi Special." Sora said, standing up. Kari just stared blankly at her, completely bewildered as to what a Takenouchi Special was.  
  
"Come with me. We're going to do some grocery shopping!" Sora told her.  
  
"For what?" Kari asked as she stood up.  
  
"A really big tub of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream!"  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Why doesn't it surprise me?" Ken said with a laugh through the phone.  
  
"I thought you'd want to know, man. I know you have a thing for her after all." Davis replied.  
  
"Had a thing, Davis. You really ought to keep up on this sort of thing."  
  
"I don't understand. When did that change?"  
  
"When I realized that Yolei is just way too crazy for me to handle. I say more power to TK if he thinks he can manage her."  
  
"You know, I think she still thinks you like her though. You ought to tell her as much."  
  
"I'll get around to it sometime, if I can ever get away from all of my studies that is."  
  
"Still trying to set yourself up for Tokyo University?"  
  
"I wouldn't accept any less."  
  
"Well, good luck. I'll talk to you later."  
  
"Yeah, later Davis."  
  
Ken hung up the phone and went back to his book. He thought about Yolei briefly, remembering his short-lived interest in her. Then there was that incident with the water balloons that one night, and that had sealed it for him. He shook his head and laughed to himself.  
  
"Certainly, more power to you TK."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
It was 1:55 PM the following day, and TK stood outside the store that Yolei's family owned waiting for Yolei to come out. He knew he'd said two 'o clock, but he also knew Yolei had a penchant for being early about everything. Sure enough, she walked out a minute later, smiling at him.  
  
TK was quite impressed as what he saw. She'd ditched both her hair kerchief and her glasses, and wore a tight, black t-shirt and jeans with tennis shoes. A purple ribbon choker adorned her neck, with a small, silver heart dangling from it.  
  
"Wow, you look really good." TK said. "Sure you can see, though?"  
  
"I have contacts in, and from what I can see you look pretty darn good yourself." Yolei replied. TK wore a faded green, buttoned shirt and a pair of khaki pants, and was without his hat for that matter.  
  
"All set, then?"  
  
"Sure, but what're we going to do?"  
  
"I thought the standard date would work out: dinner and a movie?"  
  
"Fine by me. Let's get this show on the road!"  
  
For dinner the two stopped at a café-style place that served good enough food, but was always affordable. TK and Yolei managed to get a table outside on the sidewalk.  
  
"Matt sometimes brings me by here for lunch. I know it's not much, but at least it's casual." TK said after they'd ordered.  
  
"Oh, this is fine by me. It's at least a relaxed setting. I like it." Yolei told him. "Besides, I don't want to break your bank on my…I mean, our first date after all."  
  
"Yeah, there's that too." TK laughed at the comment. He looked back at Yolei then, with a raised eyebrow. "Hold on, you said 'my'…Yolei, don't tell me this is the first date you've ever been on."  
  
"Well…yeah, kinda…"  
  
"Well then, I'll just have to step things up so that it's memorable for you. We can't have you having a lackluster first date after all."  
  
"Oh come on, this is to help you and Kari after all TK. There's no need to go out of your way for me."  
  
"Nonsense. You're a good friend of mine, Yolei, and you deserve a fun night."  
  
Yolei tried to argue more with TK, but the food started to come. By the time they'd finished with dinner, she'd all but forgotten about the earlier discussion as TK had been busily making her laugh with his antics with their food.  
  
Soon enough, they were on their way to the theater again. As it came into view, they passed by a game center that had a crane game up front. Yolei looked at it as they passed by, seeing a few plush dolls that looked particularly cute. TK picked up on what she was looking at and stepped over to the machine.  
  
"What're you doing?" she asked, watching him plunk 50 yen into the machine.  
  
"Just watch." He said with a smirk. He carefully maneuvered the crane around the machine, his eyes intently watching where it moved.  
  
"TK, no one ever wins at these things!" Yolei protested. Just then the crane dropped and snared a plush turtle doll, which it picked up and dropped down the chute. TK picked it up, handing it to Yolei.  
  
"For you!" he said with a smile.  
  
"How in the world…"  
  
"Matt taught me a couple of tricks. You should see the amount of plush dolls Sora has from their dates."  
  
"Well, thank you TK!" Yolei gave him a hug and then hugged the little doll as they continued along.  
  
'That was awfully sweet of him. Then again, he's always been a really nice guy. And cute to boot…' she thought to herself. 'Wait, am I actually thinking this? Don't be silly Yolei, you don't like him like that. This is to help him get together with Kari, and maybe to get Ken to notice you as well. That's what this is all about.'  
  
At the theater, the two floundered over what movie to go and see.  
  
"I'm not much for chick flicks." Yolei said, making a face at some of the titles. "How about something exciting?"  
  
"Well, there's Blade 2, but I don't know…you might not like it." TK said with caution.  
  
"Sounds fine to me. Let's check it out!"  
  
TK paid for a couple of tickets and they went in to watch the movie. It turned out to be action packed, and a bit shocking in parts. Yolei found herself screaming along with others in the crowd at some points, and at one point she grabbed onto TK's arm, hugging it tightly as she almost freaked out.  
  
"Sorry…that was just really scary!" she whispered as she quickly withdrew to her seat.  
  
"Uh…no problem! Don't worry, I'm right here." TK said, trying to get his face to stop flushing so red.  
  
"How much longer is the movie?"  
  
"We still haven't gotten to the final battle scene yet."  
  
"Oh. Um, mind if I…hold your hand, TK? Just in case it gets scary again, that's all."  
  
TK was about to say something when he felt Yolei's hand on his, squeezing it a bit. He sighed and smiled and turned his hand over, taking hers into his. Both of them blushed about it, but continued like that for the rest of the movie. When it ended, they left the theater to find the sun was setting and it was starting to getting late.  
  
"We ought to get you home. I don't want you to get in trouble for staying out too late." TK said.  
  
"I do have to open the store tomorrow." Yolei admitted. She began to walk, but noticed that she was still holding TK's hand. "Oh, I guess you'll want your hand back now?"  
  
"It's okay. We can walk like this." TK told her. Yolei just nodded and the two walked back to her place in silence, both feeling a bit self- conscious about the movie. They reached her front door a short time later.  
  
"Well, back safe and sound. How's that for a first date?" TK asked.  
  
"Fun. Really fun." Yolei said, holding up her plush turtle again. "Even if it wasn't for real, I had a good time TK. Thanks."  
  
"No problem. I'm in the same boat as you for that matter. This was my first date ever, too."  
  
"Oh, and I made you spend so much money! TK, I'm sorry!"  
  
"It was worth it, Yolei, I had fun. Well, I'll talk to you." TK turned and began to walk home.  
  
"Yeah…hey, hang on! Our date…isn't over yet, after all."  
  
TK stopped and looked back at Yolei, who was completely red in the face.  
  
"You haven't kissed me good night yet." She said sheepishly.  
  
"Oh. Well, if we're going to do this right I guess I should." TK said, his heart suddenly racing. He stepped back over to her nervously, clearing his throat as he did.  
  
TK leaned over, closing his eyes a bit and at first giving her a quick kiss on the lips. He began to pull back, but as if something was magnetically pulling him, he leaned in again, kissing her again. Yolei had closed her eyes as well and at first let him kiss her, but then started to kiss him back. Soon she found herself in his arms with her arms encircling his neck, the two of the kissing intensely in front of her home.  
  
'This is so nice…he's such a good kisser. I'll bet it runs in his family. Why can't I stop doing this? It just feels so good…' Yolei thought.  
  
'She deserves better treatment than she's had in the past. Boy, this is nice. I hope she doesn't mind. I kinda like kissing her, I guess…' TK thought.  
  
They broke off their kissing, gasping for a bit of air as they did. They stayed in each other's arms for a long moment, catching their breath.  
  
"That was…nice." Yolei finally said after a moment.  
  
"Yeah…" TK said in agreement. "I guess the date's over now, then. Huh?"  
  
"Yeah…"  
  
TK slowly let go of Yolei, who stepped back from him a bit. They struggled to make eye contact, finally able to do so after a few tense moments.  
  
"Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow Yolei. G'night." TK said.  
  
"Okay. G'night, TK. And thanks again for a nice night." Yolei said, managing a smile. TK smiled and nodded back, and then began to head for home.  
  
Upon getting home, TK changed into his nightclothes and lay in bed for a while. He lost track of time as he tried to sort his thoughts out about the evening. Finally, he sat back up an hour later, unable to sleep.  
  
"I can't stop thinking about that kiss." He said to himself. "But I gotta get to sleep. Maybe…if I write something about it, I can work out my feelings."  
  
TK grabbed his new composition book and a pen and sat at his desk, turning on his desk lamp and starting to write.  
  
~/ A hidden beauty… revealed under pure moonlight…touched my heart tonight.  
  
Does she think of me…as I think of her right now…sleepless in my room?  
  
Or was tonight false…an illusion of the night…solitary bliss?  
  
I sit confused here…torn between an angel's love…and her true beauty. /~  
  
Satisfied with his entry, TK closed his composition book and left it on his desk. He crawled into bed and managed to drift off to sleep, his dreams now divided between his long time love of Kari and the new feelings he was experiencing towards Yolei. 


	3. Mixed Emotions, with a Side of Confusion

Mixed Emotions, With a Side of Confusion  
  
"Thanks and have a nice day!" Yolei said for about the two hundredth time that day, mustering up what cheeriness she could find left inside of her. She sat back on her stool behind the register, checking the clock on the counter nearby. It read 10:30 AM.  
  
"Man, still 2 and a half more hours of this." She complained to nobody in particular. The store was finally empty for a moment, so she leaned forward on her elbows, holding her face in her hands.  
  
'Watching this store ranks right up there with watching grass grow. It's just not interesting at all.' She thought to herself. 'I wish just one summer would go by where I wasn't cooped up in here all the time. But no, every year it's been the same stupid thing. I get to watch the store during the day, and I'm so exhausted by the time I'm done that I can't even lift a finger to go out and do anything. At least I convinced dad to cover for me last night.'  
  
The mere mention of last night sent the images of her date with TK through her mind yet again. She looked to the top of the cash register, where the plush turtle he'd won for her sat.  
  
'Why can't I get over what happened last night? I can't deny that it was fun; in fact that was the most fun I've had in a long, long time. And that's not to mention…'  
  
Yolei let her mind wander as she remembered the goodnight kiss she had shared with TK. She closed her eyes for a moment, and for an instant it felt like she was still kissing him.  
  
'I wonder if he knows that was my first kiss? Well, duh Yolei! You told him it was your first date, after all. Was it his, too? Oh why did I have to go through with that part of the date last night? And why can't I shake it off for that matter?'  
  
Yolei opened her eyes slowly and sighed, eventually looking down to see a young man standing in front of the counter patiently, his short brown hair evenly combed and his facial features neutral. Yolei almost jumped out of her skin. Cody had that effect on people, especially when he snuck up on them like that.  
  
"What, are you doing ninja training now Cody? You about gave me a heart attack!" Yolei said, calming down.  
  
"I've been standing here for the last couple of minutes, Yolei, and no to the ninja training." Cody replied with a snicker. "Grandpa sent me down to pick up his monthly supply of prune juice."  
  
"Right. It's in the back. Mind waiting while I go get it?"  
  
"Not at all. I'll just browse around."  
  
Yolei nodded and headed towards the back whole Cody looked around the store. As he did, TK entered the store, looking left and right as if he were searching for someone.  
  
"Hey TK!" Cody called to him. TK smiled and walked over to his friend, giving him a high five as he met him. "How's summer vacation treating you?"  
  
"Not bad, not bad. You?" TK said, putting his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Daily training is the pits, but I get some time to go out. How's the writing?"  
  
"Oh you know, it comes and goes."  
  
Just then there was a crashing sound from the back and a yelp of pain. TK rushed past Cody, stepping around the counter and making his way towards the back. Yolei sat against the wall, a case of prune juice sitting on her lap as she rubbed her head a bit.  
  
"Owie…stupid thing is so heavy…" she said, somewhat dazed.  
  
"Yolei, are you okay?" TK asked as he looked at her head for a moment. There was a large red spot where the case had clocked her.  
  
"TK? I'm fine…I just lost control of the stupid case."  
  
Yolei pushed the case off of her and tried to stand up, only to fall back on her behind, her head woozy and spinning.  
  
"You stay here for a sec." TK told her. He took hold of the case of prune juice, hefting it up easily and carrying it out to Cody. "Here Cody, can you take it from here?"  
  
"No problem. Is everything okay back there?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll take care of it. I'll catch up with you later, we'll go game center hopping or something."  
  
"Gotcha. Later!"  
  
TK headed back to the back where Yolei had managed to pull herself back to her feet, though she was clutching onto a stock shelf for balance.  
  
"Hey, I got back up…" she said, managing a smile. She tried to take another step but quickly lost her balance and began to fall again. TK stepped up quickly, catching her.  
  
"Whoa! Take it easy! You took a bad bump on the head!" he told her.  
  
"I've got to watch the store though…"  
  
"Like hell! Come on, let's find a place for you to sit down and I'll fix you an ice pack."  
  
Yolei tried to insist on going back to work, but TK heard nothing of it. A few minutes later she was sitting in a comfortable chair in her family's living room.  
  
"I think I'll just take a little nap for a bit…" she said, feeling sleepy.  
  
"STAY AWAKE!" TK shouted.  
  
"Aagh! Okay! What?" Yolei jolted back to consciousness.  
  
"You've probably got a minor concussion. Whatever you do, don't fall asleep."  
  
"Right, right. Sorry."  
  
TK sighed in relief and continued to crush some ice cubes up. He dumped them into a plastic baggie and took it over to Yolei, placing it on the bruise on her head. Yolei took hold of the bag from him, keeping it in place. TK stood across from her.  
  
"Keep that bag on your head for a while, it'll help with the swelling."  
  
"Thanks TK. Is this gonna hurt a lot later?"  
  
"Maybe a little. I've had a concussion or two before. You might have a little headache or some ringing in your ears, but you'll be okay. That case wasn't too heavy."  
  
"Too heavy for me."  
  
"Well you just relax here. I'll watch the store for you."  
  
"Huh? TK, have you ever worked a cash register before?"  
  
"No, but it can't be that difficult can it?"  
  
"I'm coming with you."  
  
"No way. You need to chill out."  
  
"I can just sit on the stool behind you. I promise I won't do anything else."  
  
"Alright then, but take it slowly."  
  
Yolei nodded and followed TK back down to the store where she took a seat on her stool while TK inspected the register.  
  
"This doesn't look that difficult. Just use the scanner, right?"  
  
"It's only easy because I make it look easy. Just wait for the lunch rush."  
  
"Is it really that bad?"  
  
"You'll see. Hey, why are you here anyway?"  
  
"I was on my way to my usual bench in the park to do some writing and decided to grab a drink."  
  
"Oh go on already. I don't want to tie up your free time."  
  
"I said I was going to help you out and I meant it. You're in no condition to be working right now."  
  
"You should mind your elders, you know." Yolei said, pouting a little.  
  
"You're not that much older than me, and I never listen to Matt for that matter and he's my brother." TK said with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Well, heads up. You've got a customer. Let's see how you do."  
  
Yolei bit her lip, hoping that things wouldn't end up going too haywire. It would be a long 2 and a half hours.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Yo, TK! You here?" Matt called out, entering TK's apartment. He looked around for a bit and didn't find any sign of his younger brother. "Well great. Sora won't let me hear the end of it if I come back empty handed."  
  
Matt poked around TK's room for a minute. He idly wondered how TK could be his brother when his room was as neat and clean as it was. Matt's own room was something of a war zone. His eyes looked around the room, finally spotting what he was looking for. He walked over to TK's desk and picked up the composition book that sat there.  
  
"Sorry, TK, but this is for your own good." He said, looking the notebook over. "I've seen what you've wrote about Kari in the past, and it's just what she needs to know how you really feel."  
  
As Matt left the apartment and locked it, he flipped to the back half of the book to see where he should begin and got a bit of a surprise.  
  
"That's weird. I thought he had this thing practically filled? The back of this book is empty. Well, it'll do nonetheless." He said to himself. He took off at a jogging pace towards Sora's apartment to share his finding with her.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
1:00 PM finally rolled around and Yolei's mother showed up to relieve her. She saw her sitting behind the counter with a red bump on her head talking to TK and quickly moved over to her daughter.  
  
"Yolei, what happened?" she asked worriedly.  
  
"Oh, hi mom. It's just a bump, no worries." Yolei said. "TK here helped me out."  
  
"That was very considerate of you, TK. Thank you very much." Yolei's mother bowed to TK a couple of times politely.  
  
"No problem. I was happy to help out." TK said, scratching the back of his head and bowing as well. "Yolei, are you going to take it easy now?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be okay. My shift is over anyway."  
  
"Well, I'll be off then. I'll talk to you more later, 'kay?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Dear, since your shift is over why don't you go with TK? You could probably stand some fresh air after all." Yolei's mother suggested to her.  
  
"Oh, I don't want to get in TK's way any more than I already have mom."  
  
"You wouldn't be in the way, Yolei. All I'm going to do is sit in the park and write."  
  
"Well…if you say so."  
  
Yolei hopped off of her stool and followed TK out of the store, taking her time as she walked as she was still a bit off-center. They reached the park and TK took a seat on his usual park bench. Yolei sat down next to him and took in the scenery for a moment. There were several trees all around and a simple fountain off a little ways. It was a sunny day, but the trees provided a good deal of shade. A warm breeze played by them, and almost instantly helped her relax a bit.  
  
"This is a nice place. I can see why you come here all the time." She said with a smile.  
  
"Yeah, it's a good place for inspiration. I much prefer it to just hanging around home." TK said, looking around as he pulled his composition book out of his backpack.  
  
"Can I ask you a question, TK?"  
  
"Sure, fire away."  
  
"Why do you write so much?"  
  
"Well, it's a release for me." TK said, looking up through the trees. "I've never been really great at speaking how I feel, you know? I find I can really express my feelings better on paper, where I can think of the right words and phrasing for how I'm feeling. It helps me deal with what I'm feeling, too. Other kids our age area always suffering from some amount of angst or depression, and I'm no different. But I find that if I write out how I'm feeling, I can come to terms with my feelings a bit better."  
  
"I wish I had a release like that. All I'm apparently good with, though, are machines, computers and cash registers."  
  
"It doesn't take special talent to write, Yolei. Anyone can do it."  
  
"Not me. I'm no good with flowery words and stuff like that."  
  
"I'll bet you could be, and you just don't know it because you've never tried."  
  
"Maybe, but I don't think I want to try today. My head has taken enough punishment for one day." Yolei joked, touching the bruise on her head gently. She winced a bit at the contact. It was very sensitive.  
  
"Well just take it easy. In the meantime, I'll just open up here and…huh?"  
  
TK looked over his composition book to find it was mostly filled with his other writings. He flipped towards the back, finding one blank page left.  
  
"Oh rats! I accidentally grabbed my old composition book. I'll bet I left the new one I got the other day on my desk at home."  
  
"I'm sorry, TK." Yolei said sympathetically.  
  
"No big deal, I'll make do with what I have." TK said, taking his pen in hand. He began to scribble things down intermittently, taking time to look around him and occasionally glancing over at Yolei as well. She caught a couple of his glances eventually and quietly leaned over to try and see what he was writing.  
  
"Um, what're you doing?" TK asked a bit nervously as he caught her trying to read his work.  
  
"Isn't a girl allowed to be a little curious?" she asked impishly.  
  
"Well yeah, but…"  
  
"Then let's have a look!"  
  
Yolei managed to pull the book away from TK amidst his protests and looked over what he had written so far.  
  
~/ It was another warm summer's day in the park. Birds were singing, people were walking about in couples enjoying each other's company, and the weather was absolutely perfect. Satoshi would have just written it off as just another day were it not for the lady who was seated next to him on the park bench that day. She was tall and slender, though her figure was unmistakably feminine, curved in all the right places, which her outfit, although simple, could not hide. She looked over at him and smiled, further brightening his day. Her eyes were a most curious shade of indigo, which gave her an exotic charm that Satoshi found undeniable. The day was certainly anything but ordinary. Indeed, if anything, it was extraordinary. /~  
  
"That's…very good writing." Yolei said, handing TK back his book. She was blushing heavily, as it didn't take a genius to do a little name substitution in the short story snippet.  
  
"Thanks." TK said quietly, his face also red. "Unfortunately, that's the last of the space I have left in this book. I'll need my other book to continue."  
  
"Are you going to go get it?" Yolei asked, starting to get up.  
  
"Nah, I think I just want to relax for now." TK reclined on the bench after putting his composition book back in his backpack.  
  
A few minutes of silence passed between the two as they sat on the bench, neither knowing how to strike up the conversation that each wanted to have. Finally, Yolei spoke up.  
  
"TK, can I talk to you about something?" she asked.  
  
"What about?"  
  
"Last night."  
  
"Oh. Did I get you in trouble for coming back too late?"  
  
"No, no we were early if anything. I was just wondering…"  
  
Yolei fished for words to talk to TK about the kiss and everything, but she couldn't form the words. Finally, she went with the first thing in her mind.  
  
"When do you want to go out again?" she asked.  
  
"Well, do you have time maybe this weekend?"  
  
"Yeah, Saturday is my usual day off."  
  
"Then let's do something on Saturday. Any ideas? I picked last time."  
  
"We should go somewhere public again, maybe where Kari might be and where she could see us. How about the amusement park?"  
  
"Man, it's been a while since I've been there. Matt and Sora always talk about taking me there, but we never get around to it."  
  
"Well, that's what we'll do Saturday then. My treat this time, though. I'm the one with cash flow after all."  
  
"Okay, but just remember that it'll be my turn next."  
  
Yolei nodded as she stretched a bit on the park bench. She rolled her head back, looking up into the trees as TK had just done, content with just relaxing.  
  
'Wait a sec, I never asked him about the kiss! Stupid Yolei! Now how do I ask him about it?'  
  
"Um, there's something that was bugging me late last night." TK said, his voice sounding hesitant.  
  
"Oh? What was it?" Yolei asked, sitting back up.  
  
"Well, last night…that was my first kiss after all, and I was wondering if it was yours too."  
  
"Actually, yeah. It was."  
  
Both of them focused their eyes on the pavement in front of them, both completely embarrassed by the topic.  
  
'Well, that answers that.' Both of them thought.  
  
"You shouldn't have wasted it on me, TK." Yolei said after a moment.  
  
"I didn't think it was a waste. It surprised me was all, I mean I thought you'd want Ken to be your first kiss."  
  
'Yeah, me too.' Yolei thought.  
  
"Well, let's just consider it practice for when we get to the real thing. After all, we don't want to turn out to be bad kissers now do we?" she said a moment later.  
  
"That works, I guess." TK said, nodding in agreement. "Well, I guess I should get back to my place and find my other book."  
  
"Okay. I can get back to the shop on my own so go on ahead." Yolei said, standing up slowly.  
  
"Are you sure? That bump still looks pretty bad."  
  
"I'll be just fine. I'm not nearly so bad as I was earlier on. The fresh air did help."  
  
"Okay. Well, I'll see you on Saturday then. What time?"  
  
"Let's head out early and make a day of it. Stop by around nine or so."  
  
"Gotcha. Take care, Yolei." TK waved to her as he headed off for home. Yolei sighed in relief once he was gone and started on her way back home.  
  
'An amusement park will be good. Lots of fun, and it'll keep our minds occupied. Maybe I can shake off whatever it is that's been bugging me about that first date.' She thought as she walked home. 'At the very least, things can't get any more mixed up than they already are, can they?'  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK unlocked the door to his home and entered to find Sora and Matt sitting in the living room, apparently waiting for him.  
  
"Hey guys! To what do I owe the visit?" TK asked as he left his shoes at the genkan.  
  
"TK, I think we need to talk." Matt said, looking over at his younger brother. He held up the composition book that he'd found earlier on. TK quickly moved over and snatched it from Matt's hand, looking through it. Sure enough, it was the one he'd intended to take earlier on. The only writing in it was the poem he'd written late last night.  
  
"I'd prefer if you asked me before looking through my stuff." TK said, a bit perturbed.  
  
"That's another issue. What's the deal with Yolei?" Matt asked directly.  
  
"We went on a date. So what?"  
  
"So what? Is that all you can say? Do you have any idea what you did to Kari the other day?"  
  
TK set the book down and folded his arms, looking over at Matt with a somewhat concerned expression.  
  
'Yolei was right! This did affect Kari somehow. But I have to play it up to find out just how…'  
  
"Why should she care? She's never even shown any interest in me when I'm around." He said rather matter-of-factly. Matt grunted and stood up, almost getting into TK's face.  
  
"Look, I don't know what kind of game you think you're playing with her, TK, but it really hurt her and I think you owe her an explanation." He said.  
  
"I don't know why you're all up in arms about this. It was one date, Matt! It's not like I'm falling in love with Yolei after all."  
  
"Then explain the poem." Sora said, finally getting into the discussion.  
  
"The poem?" TK repeated.  
  
"We read it, TK. Why did you write that?" Sora continued.  
  
'Damn it! Why did they have to go and read that! For that matter, why did I write that? I honestly don't know…'  
  
"Like I said, TK, I do think you owe Kari an explanation." Matt said, calming down a bit.  
  
"I owe her an explanation?" TK responded, suddenly sounding a bit aggravated. "How about her? Don't I deserve an explanation too?"  
  
"TK, don't change the subject." Matt told him.  
  
"This is not changing the subject!" TK shot back. "If I owe her an explanation then she owes me one too. About why this is such a big deal to her, and if it really is a big deal to her, then why all of a sudden? I thought she was happy with Davis! She sure didn't go out of her way before to show me that she felt anything for me other than purely platonic friendship, so what's the deal?"  
  
"Okay, just calm down little bro." Matt said, shifting his tone to one to try and calm TK down. TK continued to rant, though.  
  
"And for that matter, you two owe me an explanation too! About why you think you can just barge into my home and pry into my life like it's your business what I do and who I do it with! I've never minded sharing my writings with any of you but I do mind if you decide to just go ahead and help yourselves to the private portions of my life!"  
  
"We're just trying to help things out, TK." Sora pleaded.  
  
"Yeah, well you can help right now by leaving. Suddenly I don't want to talk to either of you." TK said as he took his composition book to his room. He slammed the door behind him and flopped down on his bed.  
  
"TK, open up. We're not done with this yet!" he heard Matt say through the door.  
  
"GO AWAY!" TK yelled. He turned over on his bed, facing away from the door.  
  
Matt snarled and reached for the doorknob to TK's room only to feel Sora's hand on his arm, stopping him.  
  
"Leave him alone, Matt. Let's go for now." She told him quietly.  
  
"But Sora…"  
  
"But nothing, Matt. Pushing him right now isn't going to do any good."  
  
Sora leaned past Matt to the door.  
  
"TK, we'll catch up with you another time. But you should really talk to Kari sometime soon. I think you two have a lot to work out." She said through the door. She and Matt left shortly after that.  
  
In his room, TK quickly calmed down as the question lingered in his mind, with the answer completely escaping him at every turn.  
  
'Why did I write that…?'  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Friday night was Internet night for Yolei, and she sat in front of her machine happily chatting away with her "soul mate" half a world away.  
  
Wingzoluv: So how go things on the Joe front?  
  
SincerelyPink: Oh you know, it's off and on.  
  
Wingzoluv: Really?  
  
SincerelyPink: Yeah, whenever he's off school I'm on him like bees to honey. ;)  
  
Wingzoluv: LOL, I'll bet he tries to get away from school often then!  
  
SincerelyPink: Very true. And how go things for my young ward, eh? Finally gotten that Ichijouji to take notice of you?  
  
Wingzoluv: Actually, I did have a date recently…  
  
SincerelyPink: Details please!  
  
Wingzoluv: It wasn't Ken, though.  
  
SincerelyPink: Oh? Who, then?  
  
Wingzoluv: TK.  
  
SincerelyPink: As in Takaishi? As in Matt's little brother TK?  
  
Wingzoluv: There aren't any other TK's around here, Mimi…  
  
SincerelyPink: Just double-checking, that's all. Well I'm happy to see you finally going out! Now that I think about it, you two must be pretty cute together!  
  
Wingzoluv: Whatever you say, Mimi.  
  
SincerelyPink: So, give me the details already!  
  
Wingzoluv: What details? We had dinner and saw a movie.  
  
SincerelyPink: You know what I want to know, Yolei.  
  
Wingzoluv: Can't blame me for trying to get that past you.  
  
SincerelyPink: ^_^  
  
Yolei wasn't at all comfortable with chatting openly about the matter, but knew Mimi would pester her about it all night if she didn't talk about it. Sighing, she went back to typing.  
  
Wingzoluv: Yeah, he kissed me.  
  
SincerelyPink: My little Yolei's first kiss…how sweet! How was it?  
  
Wingzoluv: Nice. It was very nice. I really got into it for a bit there. So did he I guess.  
  
SincerelyPink: That's a sign, hon.  
  
Wingzoluv: A sign of what?  
  
SincerelyPink: That you really like him. He must like you too if he got into it too, like you say.  
  
Wingzoluv: I don't know about that, Mimi. TK's always had a thing for Kari after all, and how can I compare to her?  
  
SincerelyPink: We're not going to have this talk again, are we?  
  
Wingzoluv: She's pretty, popular, well liked and outgoing…she's everything I'm not.  
  
SincerelyPink: When are you going to stop comparing yourself to other girls, Yolei? You have your own charm, whether you believe it or not.  
  
Wingzoluv: Yeah, for anyone who likes a nerdy, tech-obsessed, plain looking recluse who spends all day behind a cash register.  
  
SincerelyPink: You're also a passionate, intelligent, kind-hearted young woman. Don't sell yourself short.  
  
Wingzoluv: Well anyhow, we're going out again tomorrow. This time it's the amusement park.  
  
SincerelyPink: Sounds like fun. Try the Tunnel of Love, it works every time. ;)  
  
Wingzoluv: Thanks but no, not exactly my speed.  
  
SincerelyPink: If you say so, but it's kinda hard to kiss a guy when you're racing along at 60 mph.  
  
Yolei was sorely tempted to confess the whole plan to Mimi, but knew that she talked to Sora and Kari as well, and if there was one thing Mimi was bad at it was keeping a secret. She had to play it up.  
  
Wingzoluv: Well, I'll have an update for you next time. Take it easy Mims.  
  
SincerelyPink: You too. Have fun, and give my regards to TK!  
  
Yolei powered her computer down and slipped into her bed. She lay awake for a bit, thinking about what tomorrow might bring, and more about TK.  
  
'What am I freaking out about? Tomorrow will be totally different, without a doubt. We'll get past all of this, TK will end up with Kari, and maybe I'll get Ken to finally notice me enough to go out with me too. Everything will work out like it's meant to, and everyone will end up happy. It'll work, it just has to!' she thought to herself. She rolled over and started to close her eyes.  
  
'So why am I still trying to convince myself of all of this? I mean, the plan was my idea after all. I'll bet TK isn't even thinking about all of this. Why would he? Kari is the center of his universe, she always has been.'  
  
Yolei felt herself drifting off to sleep but continued to think to herself until she fell asleep.  
  
'Get real, Yolei…you wouldn't…even stand…a chance…' 


	4. Un-amusement Park

Un-amusement Park  
  
TK gobbled down some more rice as he sat at the breakfast table across from his mother, who was sipping coffee and eating a piece of toast before heading off for her day of shopping.  
  
"You're certainly in a hurry this morning." She noted to her son, who took a few gulps of milk from his glass. "Do you have a hot date or something?"  
  
"Well, actually, I'm going to the amusement park with a friend." TK said.  
  
"Oh, is it that girl you've always talked about? Kari Kamiya?"  
  
"Actually, it's my other friend. You know, Yolei Inoue?"  
  
"Oh, the girl whose family runs the convenient store? Well that's nice."  
  
"Yeah. Hey mom, can I ask you some advice?"  
  
TK's mother set her coffee down, listening intently to her son.  
  
"I'll do my best." She said with a smile.  
  
"Suppose you liked someone for a long time, but they never showed that they liked you back. Now suppose that person decides to go out with someone else. What would you do?"  
  
"Hmm…sounds like what I go through every time I hear Matt talk about the dates your father goes on."  
  
"Doesn't it eat you up inside?"  
  
"A little, yes, but his decisions are his alone. I'm no one to tell him what's right and who he should be with."  
  
"I see."  
  
TK's mother could see that her son was troubled by something. She stood up and gave him a pat on the back, smiling at him.  
  
"Takeru, let me tell you something." She said, getting his attention. "Who you love is your business and no one else's no matter what your brother or anyone else might think. In a relationship the only opinions that truly matter are yours and your partner's, whomever that may be."  
  
"That makes sense to me, I guess. It still doesn't make things any less complicated for me, though." TK said, staring down at his rice bowl.  
  
"No one ever said love made any sense either." His mother said with a laugh. "Well, I have to get going if I'm going to catch the sales. Lock up when you leave, and have fun!"  
  
"Okay, thanks mom." TK watched his mother leave and then set to getting ready for the day. He'd already showered, so he went to his dresser and picked out a pair of white shorts and a tan colored t-shirt. He added a white, short sleeved, buttoned shirt, but kept it unbuttoned. He looked himself over in the mirror for a moment after combing his hair a bit.  
  
"Just keep it friendly, TK. She doesn't like you like that, and besides it's Kari you really like." He told himself. "It's just a fun day at the amusement park with a friend. Right, here we go!"  
  
TK slipped into his tennis shoes at the genkan and left the apartment, locking it behind him. He headed for Yolei's place, ready to leave his worries behind and have fun.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Yolei tilted her head to one side, stretching her neck as she waited for TK outside the store. She knew she was early, as usual, so she didn't start to panic when he wasn't immediately there. She had ditched her glasses for her contacts again, and had gone with white t-shirt that had a small hawk embroidered onto one sleeve in red thread and dark blue pants with her tennis shoes. Her hair was pulled back in a black barrette instead of her kerchief.  
  
"It' a nice day for an amusement park don't you think?" she heard TK say as he approached.  
  
"Absolutely perfecto!" she smiled back at him, flashing a peace sign at him.  
  
"Now that's more like it." TK sounded rather enthusiastic. "Lead the way!"  
  
A few minutes later the two were on a train speeding towards the stop for the amusement park. TK looked at Yolei for a moment, in particular her head where the bruise had been. For some reason it wasn't there anymore.  
  
"How's your head doing?" he finally asked.  
  
"Oh, fine. Mom helped me with a little makeup on it, to cover the bruise. Believe me, it's still there." Yolei replied, pointing to where the bruise was. "But I'm fine now. I was over the wooziness the next day."  
  
"That's good to hear."  
  
"Thanks again for helping me out that day. I'm sorry I was being so stubborn."  
  
"That's what friends are for, Yolei." TK flashed her a peace sign, coupled with a big, cheesy grin. Yolei instantly started laughing.  
  
"Well I certainly couldn't go wrong with a friend like you, TK."  
  
"You certainly seem a lot cheerier today than the last time I saw you."  
  
"Why wouldn't I be? It's a gorgeous day, and I'll be spending it at an amusement park with a great friend."  
  
"You just seemed a bit preoccupied the other day I guess. Was there something on your mind then?"  
  
"Well I had been clocked in the head by a case of prune juice, TK. I was bound to be acting a little funny." Yolei knocked on her head lightly a couple of times and laughed.  
  
"True enough. Still, you know you can talk to me about anything." TK leaned against the train's doors, still looking at her.  
  
"I'll remember that." Yolei said, hopping to her feet from the seat she'd taken.  
  
The train screeched to a halt and TK and Yolei disembarked. The walk to the amusement park from the station took only a few more minutes, and before long they had bought their tickets and were inside, looking around at the myriad of things to do. Yolei rubbed her hands together in anticipation.  
  
"All right! What first?" she announced. "Hmm…how about that roller coaster? It's called the Mind Bender…oooo, check out those loops!"  
  
TK looked at the roller coaster and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. The track looped and twisted so much it looked more like a car wreck than an amusement park ride to him. What's more, he'd never been particularly fond of roller coasters. He chalked it up to when Matt had snuck him onto one several years ago. It had terrified him. Nonetheless, he found himself being pulled towards the ride as Yolei had grabbed him by the arm, dragging him along.  
  
"Maybe we should start with something tamer first?" he asked nervously.  
  
"Nonsense! You've just gotta dive right in as far as these things go." Yolei let go of him as they reached the back of the line. She spun him around and began pushing at his back, making him continue on the way to what TK thought could only be certain doom.  
  
"I still think we should reconsider this!"  
  
"Oh come on, you've flown around on Pegasusmon before. How is this any different?"  
  
"That's because Pegasusmon won't flip me upside down when I'm riding on his back!"  
  
"Oh hush, you'll be fine. Now in you go!"  
  
Yolei pushed TK into one of the roller coaster's cars and sat down next to him, pulling the protector down over both of them.  
  
"I guess it's too late now to mention that I hate roller coasters?" TK said, groaning.  
  
"Hmm…well, let's see." Yolei replied, pausing for thought. Just then the cars began to move forward, and she grinned madly. "Well if it wasn't too late before it is now!"  
  
"Yolei!"  
  
"Don't be such a baby, TK! Besides, these things are totally based on the principles of physics."  
  
"What do I know about physics?!"  
  
"It's simple. See, first the chain pulls up to the top of the hill." As she spoke, the train of cars began to climb the first hill. "See, gravity is pulling on us, but we keep going higher. The higher we go, the faster we'll end up going when we eventually…"  
  
"Don't say it!"  
  
"…drop." Yolei giggled a bit. "The rest is elementary. Oh, and you might want to try and cover your ears here."  
  
"Why?"  
  
TK realized that they were just about at the peak of the hill by now. He felt a twinge of panic go through him as he saw the heights they were at.  
  
"Because I'm a screamer." Yolei added as they began to drop.  
  
Before TK could ask another question they dropped, and Yolei began screaming her head off. TK found himself joining in as the track twirled and twisted, taking them in every which direction until finally, a couple of minutes later, they pulled back into the station. Yolei hopped out of the car, celebrating all the way out.  
  
"Alright! Now that's how you get the blood moving!" she yelled. She looked back and saw TK making his way over to her slowly, a blank look on his face. 'Uh oh, maybe I screwed up here. I hope he's not mad…'  
  
"That…was…" TK muttered.  
  
"I'm sorry, TK, are you okay? I promise we can take it more…" Yolei said, apologizing.  
  
"…INCREDIBLE!!!!" he yelled. He grabbed hold of Yolei, lifting her and hugging her with the sudden burst of energy he felt. He set her down only to continue ranting. "Whoa! What a rush! That was great! Why didn't I ever do that before?!"  
  
"You just needed to loosen up a bit is all. Now c'mon, let's hit the next one!"  
  
"Yes! By all means!"  
  
The two proceeded to go from one roller coaster to the next, laughing the entire way, and completely absorbed with the fun they were having.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Kari let out a sigh as she sat at the picnic table. It was a perfect enough day, but she was still full of mixed feelings. In a chat session recently, Mimi had let it slip that Yolei and TK were coming to the amusement park on another date, and that had been more than enough for Kari to come on her own. At least, coming alone had been the original plan.  
  
"Lunch is served!" Davis said, setting the tray down on the table. He sat across from Kari and inspected the hamburgers. "Let's see, this is the one with no tomato, so that's yours. This one must be mine."  
  
"Right…" Kari said absently.  
  
"Um, Earth to Kari? You with us?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Thanks again for lunch Davis." Kari unwrapped her burger and took a small bite out of it.  
  
"Hey, it's the least I can do seeing as how you bought the tickets to get in here. I feel bad that I couldn't treat you to something like this myself right now."  
  
"Maybe another time."  
  
"Yeah, I'll talk to mom and see. So, what ride do you wanna go on next?"  
  
"Could we just maybe walk around for a bit Davis? I'm not much for going on rides just after I eat."  
  
"Oh, I hear that. No prob!"  
  
After finishing the rest of their lunch in silence, Davis and Kari walked around for a bit, looking over the various rides and attractions. After about a half-hour of walking, they stopped at a bench to rest their feet a bit.  
  
"I had no idea this place was so huge. I think I'll end up with blisters on my blisters after today's over." Davis joked.  
  
"Well we'll rest here for a bit, and then we'll hit the rides again."  
  
Kari's tone didn't sound normal to Davis, though. It was like she was distracted by something, and whatever it was it was getting in the way of her having fun. Davis decided not to say anything about it, but decided that he'd spend the rest of the day trying to get Kari out of whatever funk she was in. After all, he lived to see her be happy.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"You know you're going to end up burying me in plush dolls, TK.' Yolei said as she held her latest acquisition. This time it was a red colored plush bird doll that she carried. TK had won it at a game on the midway that involved shooting a basketball through a hoop. There were three hoops, each a bit smaller and higher than the last, and if you got the ball into the highest one you got your choice of a doll. The bird reminded Yolei of Hawkmon, and so that had been her choice.  
  
"Hey, this time I didn't need any help from Matt. Basketball is just my thing." TK said with a laugh.  
  
It was now about mid-afternoon, and TK and Yolei were starting to tire out. They had hit every roller coaster in the park, and TK had found he'd gotten over his dislike of roller coasters quickly after he'd experienced the adrenaline rush the first one had given him.  
  
They passed by the entrance to another ride as they were walking back to the entrance. It was a small train ride that traveled all around the park as well as through a few more scenic sections that you could only see on the train.  
  
"Wanna ride the train for a bit?" TK asked. "We could relax for a while, and it'd bring us back close to the exit."  
  
"Ahh, I and my feet thank you." Yolei said, patting TK on the back. They laughed as they went through the line, picking the last row of the last car to sit in. There were a few other people on the train, but much further up. As the train started up, Yolei could tell she was quite tired. Without thinking, she leaned over and found herself being propped up by TK.  
  
"Um, Yolei…?"  
  
"You don't mind, do you? I'm just tired is all, TK." She said.  
  
"No, I don't mind at all." TK blushed a bit and tried to relax, but his arm was pinned against him and it made things a bit weird. Finally he shifted his arm a bit and put it around Yolei, resting his hand on her shoulder. Yolei didn't even think about it, as she was taking in the scenery.  
  
'This is nice. He's very warm. It was getting a little cool anyway. Something about this feels so secure, like I know nothing bad could happen to me right now.' Yolei thought. She moved a little closer to TK, smiling to herself.  
  
'I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm surprised she hasn't freaked out yet. Even so, it is kinda nice. We'll just stay this way until the ride ends.' TK thought. He felt Yolei shift a little, and her head was right next to his. Her hair smelled lightly of jasmine, and TK figured it must be whatever shampoo or conditioner she used. It was certainly pleasant.  
  
Eventually the train passed through a long tunnel, where partway inside was a lit portion that had a traditional Japanese tea garden scene, complete with koi pond and everything. It was quite beautiful to look at.  
  
Yolei found herself leaning over to see it, appreciating the simple beauty of the old style garden.  
  
"It's something else, isn't it?" TK asked, looking at her.  
  
"Yeah, it's really…" Yolei turned to face him. They suddenly realized that their faces were just centimeters apart. "…breathtaking." She finished her thought, suddenly caught by his eyes, which were an absolutely perfect shade of blue.  
  
"Funny…that's just what I was thinking…" TK said in a hushed tone.  
  
The two were transfixed on each other, bewitched by each other's eyes. TK found himself pulling her a bit closer, their lips touching once again, picking up their kiss as if it hadn't ended since their first date. Yolei found that she was instantly lost in the moment, thinking of nothing but kissing TK. She felt him run his hand through her hair and sighed contently into the kiss.  
  
'It's happening again, and I can't help myself! Why does he have to be such a good kisser? Oh, who cares if it doesn't make any sense, just enjoy it for now Yolei! You know this can't last, after all…' Yolei thought to herself.  
  
'I can't help myself. I hope she doesn't mind…I know I sure don't. I don't understand why, but this feels…well, it feels kinda right.' TK thought.  
  
They continued to kiss for the remainder of the ride and even for a little bit as they felt the train come to a halt. Only the sound of a familiar voice snapped them out of it.  
  
"TK?"  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
She had seen them. Kari and Davis had been in line for the train ride, and she'd seen them as the train pulled up. The look of shock on her face hardly expressed what she was feeling inside. She couldn't believe that she had seen them kissing.  
  
"TK?" she said as she approached. Davis fell in behind her, though she didn't even acknowledge that he was there.  
  
TK and Yolei broke off their kiss as they heard Kari's voice and quickly stepped off of the train, both blushing deeply.  
  
"K-K-Kari! Wh-what're you doing here?" TK said, unable to stop stammering.  
  
"What's this all about?" Kari asked, looking at him with pained eyes.  
  
'Yeah, why is she here? Could she have…oh, damn it Mimi! Can't you keep anything to yourself?' Yolei thought, cursing at herself for even mentioning her date to Mimi.  
  
"I'm just…on a date with Yolei. That's all." TK said finally, telling the truth.  
  
"I already figured out that much." Kari said, folding her arms.  
  
TK tried to think of a way out of his situation, but to no avail. Finally, Yolei started to walk off on her own.  
  
"Yolei? Where are you…" TK took a couple of steps towards her.  
  
"Hey, don't let me get in the way here. I can get home on my own. Later guys!" she said, waving to them as she walked off. 'That's right, just keep walking Yolei. Don't look back. After all, this was the plan all along.'  
  
"Yolei, wait up!" TK called out, starting to walk after her.  
  
"TK, we're not done talking yet!" Kari told him.  
  
"Kari, this'll have to wait. Besides, aren't you here with Davis?"  
  
"Who cares about him? I came here because of you!" Kari said. She suddenly gasped as she realized she'd said that out loud. She looked over at Davis, who not surprisingly looked rather hurt.  
  
"I thought…I thought you really liked me, Kari…" he said, suddenly crestfallen. He turned and took off, running out of the park.  
  
"Davis wait!" Kari called after him.  
  
"You'd better catch him, Kari. Now you've got two people to explain something to." TK told her.  
  
"I'm still not done talking to you, TK!" Kari said, now a bit angrily.  
  
"Yeah, well likewise Kari. But we'll have this talk later, I've got to go." TK told her. He took off at a running pace after Yolei, leaving Kari alone and even more confused than ever.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Where's the stupid train already?" Yolei complained as she stood on the platform. She prayed that the train would show up soon. The longer it took the more likely…  
  
"Yolei, wait up!" TK called as he ran over to her. Yolei just shook her head disappointedly.  
  
"My dumb luck." She muttered. She turned and looked at TK, a bit miffed. "What're you doing here?"  
  
"I've got to see you home, now don't I? It wouldn't be right, after all." TK said, catching his breath. He'd run at a full sprint the entire way to the station.  
  
"Are you stupid? This was the plan all along! A couple of dates and then you'd see how she reacts. Well, I'd say you have your answer. Now go on and get back to her."  
  
"Kari's got a bit of talking to do, and not just with me. I'll catch up with her another time. Right now it's my duty to see you home and that's that."  
  
"You're being foolish, TK. You're going to lose your chance with her for real this time." Yolei said, turning away from him.  
  
"Stop it, Yolei. Why are you trying to push me away all of a sudden?"  
  
"Why do you even care?" Yolei turned on him, her tone suddenly very angry. "I'm not Kari, TK! She's the one you love, remember? You can't honestly tell me you feel anything for me. I mean come on, two dates? We hardly know each other and we're kissing? And for that matter, what was that all about before on the train ride, huh? What made you do that again?!"  
  
"Well can you blame me for wanting to kiss a pretty girl like you?!" TK shouted at her in frustration.  
  
TK's shout rang through the station for a moment and drew some looks from other people nearby. Dead silence hung between TK and Yolei for a long, tense moment with TK pacing a bit, completely frustrated, and Yolei desperately trying to absorb what he'd said.  
  
"Look, let's just go home and try to get past this okay?" TK said as he heard the train nearing the platform. "I'm sorry if I offended you earlier on. Maybe it was a bad idea after all."  
  
Yolei only nodded silently. When the train arrived she quickly took a seat near the door, folding her arms so that she was hugging herself. TK stood on the opposite side of the train, leaning near the door and watching the city pass by. The train ride seemed to go by quickly, and soon enough the two found themselves nearing Yolei's home. They stopped at her door, TK finally finding the strength to look at her again.  
  
"Talk to you later?" he said. She didn't respond. He sighed in frustration again and began to walk away.  
  
"Why did you say that?" she finally asked, her voice small and distant. TK stopped where he was, not looking back. "Why did you say, 'Can you blame me for wanting to kiss a pretty girl', TK?"  
  
"I'm not in the habit of saying things I don't mean, Yolei. You figure it out." TK told her simply. Yolei suddenly felt her lower lip quivering a bit as she started to lose what control she had left over her emotions. TK sighed again and continued walking away.  
  
"I'll talk to you again in a day or so. I'm sorry I snapped at you, Yolei. I just hope…you had a good time today." He said, his tone more depressed, almost as if he'd been defeated. He then started to run off and quickly disappeared from sight.  
  
Yolei entered her home, going directly to her room. She sat on her bed after locking her door and felt the confusion and emotion settle into her. Eventually she changed into some nightclothes and curled up into bed.  
  
'Why? Why why why why?! Everything is all messed up now. He's not supposed to like me, it's Kari he loves! So why me? It doesn't make any sense! And I…what do I…this is all too much!'  
  
Yolei felt the tears falling across her face, but did nothing to wipe them away. In the end, she cried herself to sleep as she tried feebly to make sense out of why TK was acting like he had been, as well as what was going on inside of her anymore. 


	5. If You Can't Be With the One You Love...

If You Can't Be With the One You Love…  
  
TK continued to ring the doorbell at the Kamiya apartment. It was the next morning, and he wanted to get things straightened out between him and Kari. It was time to bring some closure to the whole mess, and find out where the dice would fall. After ringing the doorbell for the sixth time, Tai finally answered the door.  
  
"TK, hey sorry! Didn't know it was you. C'mon in, I'm the only one here right now." Tai said.  
  
"Oh, then I'll come back later. I was looking for Kari." TK began to head back home.  
  
"Well, you won't catch her man. We're heading out today." Tai told him.  
  
"Heading out?"  
  
"Yeah, didn't she tell you? Our family is taking a two week trip to Yokohama." Tai told him. "Man, I'm looking forward to it."  
  
"I…see." TK said. 'Well, so much for closure. I guess I'll have to wait it out.'  
  
"Hey, do you know what was going on yesterday? Kari was really kinda moody last night when she got home, and Davis wasn't with her." Tai asked.  
  
"It's a long story, Tai. I'll let you get it from her for now. Catch you later!" With that, TK jogged off home. Tai just shrugged and went back to finishing his packing.  
  
TK fell onto the sofa in his living room after getting back home. He closed his eyes, cursing at himself left and right.  
  
"Damn it, everything is messed up. Kari's angry with me, Davis is AWOL, and Yolei probably doesn't even want to see me right now. I can be such an ass sometimes." He said to no one in particular. The phone rang and he groaned, dreading whomever it might be. He grabbed the cordless phone and switched it to 'talk'.  
  
"Takaishi residence, TK speaking." He said into the phone.  
  
"Hey TK, it's Sora. Mind if I come over for a bit?"  
  
"Is my brother with you?"  
  
"Just me today, TK. I promise."  
  
"Yeah, you can come over Sora. I'm not going anywhere, that's for sure."  
  
TK switched off the phone and waited for Sora's arrival. Sure enough, she showed up a few minutes later, alone as promised.  
  
"You don't look happy." She commented as she sat down nearby.  
  
"It's a new exercise for writing." He said somewhat sarcastically. "It's called 'piss off all your friends and find new ways to act like a jerk'."  
  
"So I heard through the grapevine. Though I'll say this much, you're definitely Matt's brother. Only an Ishida could shake things up like you have, TK."  
  
"Gee, that makes me ever so glad to hear." TK stood up and wandered into the kitchen for some water. "If you're here to get me to make up with Kari you're out of luck. She's gone for two weeks on a trip."  
  
"Actually, I'm here to help you make up with Yolei." Sora said.  
  
"Oh? I thought you and Matt thought I was just 'playing a game' with Kari, wasn't that it?" TK said, not dropping his attitude.  
  
"TK I know you must have your reasons for doing what you're doing, and I'm not going to try and interfere with them. I'm here for damage control, nothing more, I swear to you." Sora said, joining him in the kitchen. TK finished his water and put his cup in the sink, looking over to Sora after he did so.  
  
"I don't know if she even wants to look at me right now, Sora. We parted ways kinda awkwardly last night." He said, focusing his vision on the tile floor. "I don't know why I've been acting like I have been around her…"  
  
"I can answer that one for you." Sora said, smirking. TK looked up at her, curious as to what she had to say. "It's obvious to me at least. You're attracted to Yolei."  
  
"Sora, we're just good friends is all." TK said, trying to shoot down the idea.  
  
"Yeah, that's what I told myself for about a month when I first started dating your brother. Face facts, TK. You've got a crush on her, big time."  
  
TK fell silent for a moment as he wrestled with the idea. Sora took a seat in the kitchen waiting for him to speak up again. Finally, after a bit of pacing, he looked at her again.  
  
"I admit she's really kinda pretty…" he said carefully.  
  
"Told you so." Sora said with a smile.  
  
"But I know she doesn't feel anything like that for me. She's been in love with Ken for a long time, after all."  
  
"I can't help you there. What I can help you with is how to apologize to her." Sora stood up and walked over to him.  
  
"What should I do?" TK asked.  
  
"My advice: use what you know. You're a writer, after all."  
  
"You think it'll work?"  
  
"Well it can't hurt things any further. Now I have to go meet up with Matt for our date, but I'll check up with you sometime soon."  
  
"I'll give it a shot, Sora. Thanks for the advice." TK said. As soon as Sora left, TK grabbed a notepad and began brainstorming on what to write. After an hour of work, he finally had something he figured was decent. Now he just had to get it to its destination. He picked up his phone and dialed up a number.  
  
"Hello, Cody? It's TK. I need a favor…"  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
The knocking wouldn't stop, no matter how much Yolei rolled around in bed and tried to muffle it out with her pillow. Whoever it was, they were being way too persistent for her tastes right now. Finally she got up, threw on her robe and opened her door, ready to cream whoever it was.  
  
"What do you want?!" she said angrily. She quickly calmed down when she saw it was Cody, who was cowering back a bit from her.  
  
"Are you always so scary in the morning?" he asked, stepping back up to her.  
  
"Sorry, I don't want to go into it right now. What's wrong?" She tied her robe tightly around herself and folded her arms.  
  
"I was just supposed to deliver this to you." Cody said, handing over a folded piece of paper. "See you later!"  
  
"Cody, wait up! Who's it from?" Her question went unanswered, as Cody was already gone. "I swear, I'll bet he is taking ninja training anymore."  
  
Yolei closed her door and sat down on the bed, considering the piece of paper she held. At first she was tempted to just throw it away, but curiosity got the better of her and she opened it, recognizing the handwriting as TK's.  
  
~/ Satoshi stood nervously in front of the indigo-eyed woman, who glared daggers at him. He'd been so callous and foolish with his words around her the last time they'd been together, she felt she could never forgive him. Satoshi struggled to make eye contact with her, fumbling with the words of the speech he'd so meticulously prepared ahead of time to try and apologize. He truly felt horrible for how he'd acted and how he'd treated her, and he had wanted to apologize with a truly elaborate speech where he sung her praises and spoke of the true beauty he'd seen in her, but he was at a loss for words as he stood there before her. Finally, just before she turned to leave, he gathered the courage to look her in the eye once again. He took a deep breath and spoke in an even tone, the words coming from his heart.  
  
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me." /~  
  
"TK…you silly thing." Yolei said as she finished reading the story. She smiled and folded the note back up, putting it in her nightstand drawer. "Now I need to go see him to tell him it's okay, though. But if I go out through the store, dad'll catch me and make me work. How am I going to pull this off?"  
  
Yolei tried to formulate a plan as she changed clothes into her normal blouse, skirt and sweater. She tied her kerchief around her hair and cleaned her glasses, setting them on her face. Once done, she poked her head out into the hallway and silently crept along downstairs to the shop. By a stroke of luck, her father was haggling with one of their regular customers who always tried to squeeze them for a deal on something. Yolei took the opportunity to sneak out of the store unnoticed and took off for TK's apartment, hoping she would catch him there.  
  
Sure enough, TK answered the door after Yolei rang the bell a couple of times, a little out of breath.  
  
"Hi Yolei. What's up?" he asked innocently. She stepped forward and just hugged him tightly.  
  
"Don't worry, I forgive you." She said quietly. TK sighed in relief and hugged her back a bit, glad she wasn't mad at him any more.  
  
'1 down…' he thought, '…2 to go.'  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"I'll meet you in the park later on. I promised Cody I'd hang with him for a while in return for the favor he did for me." TK said, locking the apartment behind him.  
  
"Okay, I'll meet you there." Yolei said with a smile. As TK started to walk off, she called after him. "Hey, TK? Seriously, did you mean what you said last night? About me, that is."  
  
This time TK turned to face her, smiling as he did.  
  
"I told you already, Yolei, I'm not in the habit of saying things I don't mean." He told her. Yolei nodded, feeling her cheeks redden as TK disappeared down the stairwell. After a moment she headed off on her own, back towards the store. She was just around the corner from there when she spotted Ken walking by. It had already been a day of settling things, she figured it was now or never to find out what he thought.  
  
"Hi Ken!" she said cheerily, catching up to him.  
  
"Oh, hello Yolei. What can I do for you?" Ken asked pleasantly. He had looked up from a book he was reading to greet her, and had now returned to it.  
  
"Busy at studying as always?"  
  
"Yup. If you don't mind, I'm headed to the library…"  
  
"This won't take long, I was wondering if you knew TK and I had been dating recently."  
  
"Yeah, Davis told me a while back. I'm happy for you." Ken said with a smile, pulling away from his book once again. 'This had to come up sooner or later. I should've listened to Davis and straightened this out earlier. Oh well, no sense in putting it off anymore.' He thought to himself, repressing his annoyance at the matter.  
  
"You are?" Yolei was more than a bit surprised that he wasn't reacting like she'd hoped.  
  
"Sure thing. I mean, I'm glad to see my friends happy together."  
  
"But didn't you…I mean, I still…"  
  
"Yolei, I'm sorry." Ken stopped walking and looked at her, trying not to get too frustrated or angry with her. "I'm just not interested in having a relationship with anyone right now. I'm sorry if you had your heart set on me, but my heart is set on my studies and my future and…to be honest I don't want to date right now. It's that simple."  
  
"I see…well then, I'm glad we got that resolved." Yolei said, trying to be as brave as she could. Inside her, though, she felt like her world was crumbling.  
  
"Yeah…well, give my regards to TK. I'll see you around!"  
  
Ken waved to her as he continued on his merry way to the library. Suddenly, Yolei felt like she'd lost her safety net. The plan hadn't worked at all like she'd hoped it would.  
  
'Ken…doesn't like me like that…' she thought. 'Did I mess up somewhere? Or…was he never interested in me in the first place?'  
  
The realization brought on a wave of depression that stuck itself in Yolei's mind as she slowly made her way home, suddenly feeling very alone.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK felt a bit more of a spring in his step as he headed to the park, this time with the right composition book in hand. He spotted Yolei sitting on the same bench they had last time and waved to try and get her attention, but she didn't respond. As he neared her, he could see that she was staring intently at the ground, and after a moment he could hear that she was sobbing. He closed the distance between them quickly and sat by her, setting his book down.  
  
"Yolei? What's wrong?" he asked. Yolei looked over at him and grabbed hold of him, crying into his shoulder.  
  
"Ken…doesn't like me…" she said between sobs.  
  
"What? That can't be right! I thought…"  
  
"I…met him earlier on…he didn't care…that we were dating…"  
  
"Yolei…I'm sorry. I didn't know."  
  
"Neither did I…I've never felt so…so alone before."  
  
TK put an arm around Yolei, trying to comfort her. Inwardly, he sighed at the turn of events.  
  
'I can't help but think this is all my fault. She's gone though so much emotionally just to try and get Kari and me together, and now she finds out that the guy she's been crazy about for years isn't even interested in her.'  
  
Yolei sniffled a bit and finally looked up at TK, her face completely anguished.  
  
"What am I going to do now, TK?" she asked, almost pleadingly.  
  
'So much she's endured…I wonder what she'd say if I told her that I wasn't sure that it was Kari that I wanted to be with anymore…' TK thought, a bit of curiosity pulling at him at the idea.  
  
"Well first we've got to work on cheering you up. And I think I know where we can start with that." He said. "Come with me."  
  
Not questioning, Yolei followed TK back to his place where she sat in a chair, wondering what was going on. TK grabbed his phone and dialed up Sora's number. He was relieved when she answered after a couple of rings.  
  
"Hi Sora, it's TK. Hey do you have some time this evening? I think we might be in need of a Takenouchi Special."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Yolei had only ever heard of the Takenouchi Special before second handedly from Mimi, and had always wondered what it was. She was experiencing it firsthand now, and it turned out to be extremely simple and exactly what she needed. It consisted of getting a few friends together with a gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and a couple of really bad, old horror flicks that they proceeded to make fun of at every opportunity. In this case, the friends present were Matt, Sora and TK, and at present everyone was rolling with laughter at the cheesy death scene one of the characters had just done.  
  
"Must…stop…laughing…need…oxygen…" Yolei gasped as she doubled over in laughter again.  
  
"Turn it off! We need…a break!" Matt cried as he lunged for the remote. He managed to grab it and turned the TV off as he gasped for air, lying across Sora's lap.  
  
"I think I'll need plastic surgery to remove the smile from my face…" TK said, calming down. "Thanks a lot for doing this on such short notice, Sora."  
  
"Oh, anytime TK. I just look for excuses to be able to do this for my friends." Sora told him. "You feeling better, Yolei?"  
  
"Leagues better. I thank you, my face thanks you, but my abs are gonna kill you in the morning. I can't laugh anymore, my stomach hurts so much!" Yolei said. She was sitting upside down in her chair, as that was the position she'd ended up in.  
  
"Well, I think we'll take our leave of you two for now then." Matt said, prying himself off of TK's couch. Sora nodded and got up as well.  
  
"Indeed, our work here is done! Come, faithful sidekick! We ride into the sunset!" she said, gesturing at Matt.  
  
"Matt's a…sidekick?" TK and Yolei said in unison. They both burst out laughing again, with Yolei yelping in pain as she did. Matt just shook his head and headed for the door.  
  
"We'll see you two nuts later!" he called out. Sora waved to the two and left with Matt as TK and Yolei recovered from the last fit of laughter.  
  
"Oh man, I won't need to laugh for a year after that!" Yolei said, catching her breath.  
  
"I'm glad you're feeling better now, Yolei." TK said as he managed to stand up. "Though I don't know about you, but I'm thirsty."  
  
"I could go for a drink. Whatcha got?" Yolei replied. She rolled backwards over her head and ended up on her knees. She quickly stood up and joined TK in the kitchen.  
  
"Some orange juice, water, a few packets of prune juice…"  
  
"Prune juice?"  
  
TK looked back at her from the fridge, and the both nodded to each other.  
  
"Cody's grandfather." They said in unison.  
  
"I could make some tea if you'd like."  
  
"Nah, it's not nearly cold enough for tea. Mind if I get some orange juice?"  
  
"No prob. I'll take water myself."  
  
TK grabbed the juice and water jugs and poured a couple of glasses, handing one to Yolei. They returned to the living room where they both sat on the sofa. TK considered the TV remote for a moment, but just set it on the table.  
  
"Oh, you can turn it on if you'd like." Yolei said.  
  
"TV doesn't really hold my interest much these days. Why bother watching stories when I can make them up, after all?" he replied, gesturing with his left hand like he was writing.  
  
"That's true. I like spending my time tinkering with my computer and finding interesting things on the web."  
  
"Maybe you could take a look at our computer sometime? Mom says it never performs as good as it should."  
  
"Sure, I'd be glad to look at it."  
  
Yolei took a drink of juice and set the glass down on the table. She sighed, as reality seemed to be edging its way back into her head, despite TK, Matt and Sora's efforts to help her cheer up.  
  
"What am I going to do now, TK? I'm so afraid of being alone…" she said, curling up a bit on the sofa.  
  
"Yolei, you're not alone. You have lots of friends who care about you."  
  
"You know what I mean, TK…"  
  
"Yeah…I do."  
  
TK saw she was starting to get depressed again, her eyes beginning to mist over a bit.  
  
'I can't stand this! I can't stand seeing her hurt like this! Not when I can be there for her…' TK thought to himself.  
  
TK moved over on the sofa, putting his hand gently on hers. Yolei's head jerked up suddenly, looking at him.  
  
"It'll all be okay. I promise, Yolei. So…don't cry anymore." He said, trying to smile at her.  
  
Yolei started to smile back at him a little. Then TK moved to sit alongside her, putting his left arm around her. She leaned against him, just like she had on the train ride, and she slowly found her tears disappearing.  
  
'I could stay here all night, just sitting with TK. Before all that happened yesterday I was really enjoying being with him. Hey, speaking of which…'  
  
"Did you manage to catch up with Kari today?" Yolei asked, looking up at him.  
  
"She and her family are gone on a two-week trip to Yokohama. I missed talking to her completely." TK replied.  
  
"Oh. That's too bad."  
  
"Yeah. Hey, listen, you want to do something tomorrow? Or anytime this week?"  
  
"Huh? But Kari's not around, TK, so it won't…"  
  
TK bit his lip as he tried to think of a way to cover his tracks, and as luck had it, he found a way.  
  
"I thought about that too, and I figured that if she came back and found out we weren't dating anymore she'd be suspicious about the whole thing. So you see, it'd work out best if we kept it up just so no one gets curious." He said, hoping she bought his story.  
  
"If you put it that way…though are you sure you're not just cooking up an excuse to go out with me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at him.  
  
"What do you think?" TK said, smirking at her.  
  
'I think you're trying to be too sweet for your own good is what I think.' Yolei thought to herself.  
  
"Well…sure, I'd like that. Any ideas?" she said after a moment.  
  
"Well, Matt has a concert on Friday night. But I don't have any ideas beyond that."  
  
"I think I heard about an poetry reading on Tuesday. You could bring some of your work and read it! That'd be great!"  
  
"I'm not too hot on being public about my writing. I mean, I don't mind sharing it with you guys but in front of an audience?"  
  
"It's worth a try at least once, TK. C'mon, it can't hurt!"  
  
"Okay, I'll see what I can get together by then."  
  
"Great. Hey, what time is it anyway?"  
  
Yolei looked at the clock and saw it read 10:00 PM.  
  
"Wow, later than I thought it was."  
  
"Yeah, laughing so much really passed the time. I guess you need to get going?"  
  
"Yeah. I have the evening shift tomorrow." Yolei said, standing up and straightening out her skirt.  
  
"I could drop by and keep you company if you'd like." TK said, standing up as well.  
  
"TK, I don't want you wasting your summer cooped up in the same store I'm trapped at." Yolei walked towards the door as she talked.  
  
"We'll see. Maybe I'll stop by around closing time or something. You never know, I'm prone to be spontaneous after all."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I have two reminders on my cash register of it after all."  
  
TK stopped at the genkan with her, opening the door for her.  
  
"Okay, well g'night Yolie." He said.  
  
"Yeah. Thanks again for everything TK." She said as she stepped up by him.  
  
"Hey, anytime."  
  
An awkward moment passed between the two as they stood in the open doorway. At first they avoided each other's gaze, but eventually they did look at each other, laughing sheepishly.  
  
'Is Sora right? Am I feeling attracted to Yolie?' TK thought. 'I can't deny that she's pretty, hell I've told her so!'  
  
'Those eyes are so hypnotic, it feels like I'm being pulled into him sometimes…why can't I help feeling like this?' Yolei thought as she unconsciously stepped close to him.  
  
Yolei took a total of two steps towards TK before she finally leaned in, kissing him on the lips. TK reached around a bit, finding her hands and taking them into his as he kissed her back. Yolei slipped her hands from his to slide them up his lanky arms, her fingers tracing along his muscles gently. TK brought his hands to rest at her waist, then sliding them down to her hips.  
  
"Hmmmm…." Yolei moaned into the kiss at the touch of his hands.  
  
'He's being more daring now…and I like it a lot. Can I seriously be thinking like this, and about TK?' Yolei thought.  
  
'Every time this happens between us I can't help but wonder how she feels about it. I know I enjoy every moment of it…' TK thought. They continued to kiss for a few minutes until they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat off from just outside the apartment. Both of them looked over to see TK's mother in the doorway, looking right at them.  
  
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." She said as she smiled at them, stepping past them and heading for the kitchen. Yolei and TK's faces instantly turned as red as tomatoes as they quickly shied away from each other.  
  
"Right…I'll be going then." Yolei said, trying to control her blushing.  
  
"Okay. See you tomorrow." TK said, stepping back a bit. Yolei nodded to him and headed off on her own as TK closed the door after her. He leaned against it after locking it and sighed. His mother came back and looked at him with a smile.  
  
"You're getting to be a real lady killer, just like your brother." She said, heading to her room. TK just sighed exasperatedly and headed for his room, eager to end the day and get to the next, as it presented yet another opportunity for him to see Yolei. 


	6. ...Love the One You're With

…Love the One You're With  
  
TK sat in the park once again, this time with all four of his composition books sitting next to him. He sat, legs spread apart and bent over, his elbows on his knees. He looked over at the stack of books, laughed briefly, and shook his head.  
  
"Four books' worth of writing, and nothing even remotely worthy of being read in front of an audience." He said to himself. "What am I gonna do? Anything I come up with right now is going to be so horribly rushed it'll be awful. Maybe I could just change some words around and…no, no, no! Stupid idea! Man, this sucks!"  
  
TK grabbed his newest book, opening it up to the only thing in it currently, which was the poem he'd written after his first date with Yolei. As much as he liked it, it just didn't do any justice to how things were now.  
  
'I need something for tonight, and at the same time I need to sort out what I've been feeling these days. I just hope Yolei won't mind.' He thought as he chewed on his lower lip a bit.  
  
TK took up his pen and began to write, almost as if he were possessed. The words flew from his mind to his hand, his writing could hardly keep up with his thoughts as he wrote. After a half hour of straight writing he looked over what he had, edited a couple of things, and nodded in approval.  
  
"Did I really write all of this? Is this what's been swimming through my mind all this time?" he said to himself in a tone of quiet amazement. "If so, what about Kari? How do I feel about her now? I honestly don't know anymore. Maybe once I see her again I'll know. But that's neither here nor there right now."  
  
TK packed up his books and slung his backpack onto his back, starting on his way back to his apartment. Once home, he sorted out all the books that he didn't need, keeping with him the book he'd just written in. He double- checked it to make sure that he did have the right one and then tossed his CD player, a few CDs, and a couple of pens into the backpack as well. As he exited his home again, he turned to see that Cody was standing right behind him. TK almost jumped through the ceiling at the surprise, but calmed down when he recognized his friend.  
  
"You're awfully jumpy today, TK." Cody said, snickering.  
  
"Maybe Yolei is right after all. Are you sure you're not in ninja training?" TK asked as he adjusted his backpack a bit on his back.  
  
"People just seem to have a way of not noticing me until I'm right in front of them." Cody shrugged, shaking his head. "It's understandable, I'm not the most visible of people after all."  
  
"We'll have to work on that when you're a little older."  
  
"Anyhow, I was just coming to see you and see if anything was going on today. Are you up to anything?"  
  
"Well, I'm going to an open poetry reading session later on with Yolei, but nothing right now." TK replied after locking his door.  
  
"You want to get some ice cream? My treat!"  
  
"Since when do you have money?"  
  
"Since I set a new record at kendo practice. I cleaned the entire dojo faster than anyone else ever had, and grandpa rewarded me for it."  
  
TK considered Cody's offer briefly. Truth be told, he'd been planning on hanging out at the store with Yolei for a while before the reading, but it was a truly hot day and ice cream did sound good.  
  
"Well, since you're buying." He finally said. Cody smiled and led the way to the ice cream parlor, which was about a block away from Yolei's store actually. Once there, Cody ordered a Rocky Road cone while TK went with straight vanilla.  
  
"Why do you always get something so plain, TK? Cody asked between bites of his cone.  
  
"I don't know, it's an old habit. I've never gotten tired of Vanilla anyway." TK replied.  
  
"Speak for yourself. My goal is to try every flavor here before the end of summer!"  
  
"Knowing you, Cody, you'll make that goal in no time." TK laughed at his friend's comment.  
  
"Hey, everyone has their goals. Just like yours seems to be trying to get a new girlfriend before school starts."  
  
"Come on Cody. I've never had a girlfriend before, and for that matter I still don't."  
  
"That's sure not how the rest of us see it."  
  
"Us?"  
  
"The rest of the DigiDestined. You've had everyone talking since you started dating Yolei."  
  
"I had no idea. I mean, Matt and Sora have talked to me a bit about it, but I sure haven't heard anything from anyone else."  
  
"Everyone's just mostly surprised that you didn't end up dating Kari really."  
  
"And what do you think?"  
  
"Me?" Cody finished his ice ream cone and wiped his hands with the napkin he'd been holding the cone in, tossing it out. "I say no one knows you and your heart better than you TK. No matter what any of us thinks, you're the best judge of what you want."  
  
"Thanks Cody. I'm glad to know there's more than one person supporting me."  
  
Cody smiled back, nodding in agreement. TK then noticed that his expression darkened quickly as he looked back at his ice cream.  
  
"Although a word of advice, I'd stay away from Davis if I were you." Cody said, taking another bite of his cone.  
  
"Davis? Why?"  
  
"I caught up with him the other day, and he seemed pretty angry: partly at himself, partly at Kari which was surprising to me, and then also partly at you. He said something about how you 'ruined Kari for him' or something like that. It didn't make a lot of sense to me at the time."  
  
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but thanks for the heads up anyway. And thanks for the ice cream, too."  
  
"Anything for my best friend, TK. Well, I'm going to go check out the library for a new book. I hear Ken's been spending a lot of time there recently, maybe he can recommend something to me."  
  
"Have fun, Cody. I'll catch you later!"  
  
The two DigiDestined partners parted ways after that, with TK resuming his original path to Yolei's store. As he neared it he noticed someone standing outside who looked up at him. It was Davis, standing with his arms folded as he leaned near the entrance. He looked up and saw TK and pushed off of where he was leaning, beginning to walk towards him. TK kept his cool and continued to approach, already starting to formulate a conversation with the junior DigiDestined leader in his head.  
  
He never saw the first punch coming.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
A commotion just outside the shop caught Yolei's attention as she was restocking the magazine racks. She set down the stack of magazines she held and walked over to the door to see Davis assaulting TK like a madman. She saw TK go down after another punch and Davis started to move to pummel him where he lay. She quickly ran over, grabbed Davis by his shoulders and pulled him back, pushing him off to the side. She then knelt down next to TK, inspecting his injuries.  
  
"Get away from him, Yolei. This is none of your business!" Davis told her, sneering at her, his face looking almost feral. Yolei could hear the malice in his voice, and it genuinely scared her.  
  
"Leave him alone, Davis! What did he ever do to you?" she shot back, staying right where she was to protect TK.  
  
"That bastard ruined Kari for me!" he shouted, glaring at both of them. "As long as I can remember I've liked her and done everything I could think of to get her to like me back. I've done nothing but worship the ground she walks on for years, and only recently do I find out that she never cared about me to begin with because she's always had eyes for him!  
  
"He's the only one she has eyes for! I've done nothing but tried to win her affections, where he does nothing and he ends up being the one she falls all over! How fucking fair is that?! Everything I've ever felt and done to try and get her to like me back has been for absolutely nothing…and it's ALL HIS FAULT!"  
  
"So you're going to beat him to a pulp and that'll get Kari to like you? Think again, Davis! This is stupid!"  
  
"I don't know, and for that matter I couldn't care less at this point Yolei! Maybe she won't like me any more, but I don't care. For all I know she never even liked me as a friend to begin with! So forget about this being an attempt to win her over. Right now I…I just want him to pay for my pain!"  
  
Yolei stood up, positioning herself between Davis and TK, her eyes meeting Davis' gaze sternly.  
  
"You've said and done some stupid things in the past, Davis, but this takes the cake!" she told him angrily. "I won't let you do this! I refuse to let you torture him just to satisfy some twisted sense of justice you think you'll reap from this!"  
  
"Don't make me do this, Yolei! I'm serious here!" Davis said, stepping towards her.  
  
"Do whatever you want, it's clear that's all you have in mind." Yolei said, beginning to brace herself. "But I won't let you hurt him! I won't let you hurt Takeru!"  
  
"STOP IT!" TK shouted from where he lay. Yolei looked back at him, seeing that he was slowly struggling back to his feet, coughing a bit. "That's enough!"  
  
TK slowly pulled himself up to his feet, spitting out some blood as he did. His head felt dizzy and his midsection hurt badly from a couple of shots to the gut that Davis had gotten in. He stepped around Yolei and stared Davis down. His left cheek was beginning to swell, his lip cut and a small trickle of blood was falling from his nose as well, but he stood his ground, his eyes piercing into Davis'.  
  
"If you're hell bent on beating the crap out of me then get it over with, Davis." He said, letting his hands rest at his sides.  
  
"But…" Yolei said, reaching for him.  
  
"No, Yolei! I should've seen this coming for a long while." TK said, stepping away from her. He returned his attention to Davis. "I'm sorry about what happened with Kari and you, I never wanted to hurt you. I never knew how she felt about me, nor did I ever know how deeply you felt for her either. But what's done is done, and none of us can change it. I can't imagine what it must be like for you finding all of that out in such a way, but I think you need to have that conversation with Kari, not me.  
  
"Regardless of all of this, if you feel like you have to beat me up then you're welcome to it." TK spread his arms wide open for Davis. "I probably don't deserve any less. Hell, I won't even fight back. It's pointless for me to do so, after all."  
  
Davis paced back and forth, continuing to fume for a few minutes. He stopped and stared at TK for several minutes, his fists tensing and clenching as he tried to find the will to continue his assault. Eventually, his arms went limp, and his hands opened up as he hung his head, tears falling from his eyes once again. Finally, he screamed in anguish and ran off, leaving TK and Yolei worrying for him.  
  
TK wavered a bit, feeling a dizzy spell washing over him suddenly. Yolei moved quickly and caught him, helping him walk slowly inside. Her father met her at the counter and saw the shape TK was in.  
  
"What the hell happened to him?" he said, looking him over.  
  
"Dad, get the first aid kit. I'll take him upstairs, okay?" Yolei said. Her father nodded and headed into the back for the kit. A few minutes later, Yolei finished carrying TK up to her room where she helped him lay down on her bed. Her father showed up moments later with the first aid kit and a damp, cold washcloth. She thanked him and ushered him out of her room, closing the door before turning her attention to TK, tending to his injuries.  
  
"He really hurt you bad. Don't worry, I'll take care of you." She told him quietly.  
  
"Yolei…" TK said in a half daze.  
  
"Shhh, just relax." She said, brushing some of his blond hair away from his face. "It's my turn to help you out."  
  
After a few minutes of work, Yolei cleaned off the washcloth which was now dotted with TK's blood, then re-soaked it in cold water, folded it and returned to see TK had dozed off. She closed her door again and pulled up a chair beside the bed. She leaned over, kissing his forehead gently and then setting the washcloth over his forehead gently.  
  
"Rest up, Takeru, you've been brave enough for one day." She whispered to him. She stayed by his side for a while, watching over him while he slept.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK woke up slowly, finding himself to be in a much more comfortable position than he'd been in before. He felt something damp on his head and picked up the washcloth, which was now luke warm. He also noticed there was a piece of cotton lodged into one of his nostrils, probably to soak up any other blood. He removed it and began to look around, first noticing Yolei who was napping a bit where she sat next to the bed he was laying on.  
  
'She must've brought me up here…this must be her room, then.' He thought. He took a moment to inspect it. It was a bit plain, as far as a girl's room went, the major features being her computer and a bookshelf full of technical books and manuals. He went to sit up, but ended up nudging Yolei, who snapped awake quickly.  
  
"Oh, you're awake! Good, I was worried for a bit there." She said, stretching a little.  
  
"Sorry to make you worry. Did you take care of me?" TK asked.  
  
"Well someone had to, you were a mess! How are you feeling?"  
  
"Still a little sore, but nothing unbearable. Thanks for looking after me, Yolei."  
  
"Just returning the favor you did for me after all."  
  
"Yeah…so, this is your room?"  
  
"Huh? Oh yeah! You've never been here before, have you?"  
  
"Actually, I've never been in a girl's room ever."  
  
"Heh heh, well it's not much to look at I know, but it's mine."  
  
"No, it's nice. Say, what time is it?"  
  
"3:00. You were out for an hour or so."  
  
"The reading is at 4:30, isn't it? We'd better get going then."  
  
"Are you sure you still want to do this today? There'll be other readings, after all."  
  
"No, I want to do this. I don't want to spend all day dwelling on getting beaten up by Davis."  
  
TK stood up slowly, wincing as he felt a bruise around his midsection. Davis had gotten him once real good in the gut, and it hurt to stand up. Once he was upright, though, it was better. He looked over and saw the worried look on Yolei's face and managed to smile at her.  
  
"I'm fine, Yolei. Really." He said, walking slowly to her door. Yolei moved quickly, opening it for him and following him down and out of the store, saying goodbye to her parents as they left. As they started to walk towards the coffee house where the reading was, she laced her arm around his, holding it close to her.  
  
"For support, in case you stumble or something." She told him with a smile. 'And because I like being close to him, but I can't go saying that, now can I?' she added in thought.  
  
The coffee house was a bit of a modern style establishment, and had a small stage off to one side where they had local performers and sometimes readings of literary works and poetry. Tonight it was set up for such an event, with a microphone and stool situated centrally on it. TK and Yolei took a table in the middle of the café, as college students from around the area had already taken all of the front tables. They ordered some tea, and were served along with a couple of cookies a few minutes later.  
  
"Well, at least now you know for certain about how Kari feels." Yolei said, sipping her tea.  
  
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I guess." TK said, staring at his own tea cup.  
  
"What's wrong? I thought you'd be happy to know now."  
  
"I…I don't know anymore really." He said, sounding as uncertain as his statement was. "So much has happened recently that I'm really kind of unsure about my feelings anymore."  
  
"I'm not following you. The point of this all was to get you and Kari together, and now you know she cares about you just as much as you care about her! I mean, what's not to know?" Yolei asked, leaning across the table a little.  
  
TK fell silent, unsure of how to say what was on his mind, but was saved as they heard things getting underway for the reading. They settled back and listened in to poetry of all sorts, speaking about a range of things from nature to society to politics to darker topics like death and depression. It was a rather dour event, though both of them were fascinated with how well the ideas were voiced in each of the works. Finally, the stage was open for a long moment and TK seized the opportunity. He picked up his bag and stood up, beginning to head for the stage. He looked back at Yolei for a moment before he headed up.  
  
"You asked me before why I wasn't happy about knowing that Kari liked me…well, maybe this will help you understand." He told her. Yolei just blinked at him, completely confused by what he meant.  
  
TK approached the stage and set his backpack down on the stood, pulling his composition book from it. He stood up to the microphone nervously.  
  
"Um, hi everyone. My name is TK, and I know I'm kinda young to be doing this, but I have something I'd like to share. I know it's not as serious as some of the other topics we've heard tonight, but I'd like to read it for you anyway." He said. "So here goes."  
  
TK cleared his throat and opened his composition book to what he'd written earlier, and began to read.  
  
~/ 'Funny, isn't it? How fate seems to have its way of changing things up?  
  
I never thought that I would see myself liking anyone but her.  
  
But change is constant. An ever-flowing stream that sweeps us all through life.  
  
At first my eyes were still only focused on her, until recently.  
  
Then I found something in a person that I had never considered.  
  
It started as just two friends laughing and playing, innocent and sweet.  
  
And now I don't know how to tell her that now I feel differently.  
  
I've seen her hurting, and it tears at part of me to see her like that.  
  
I hear her soft voice and can't help but think maybe I've come to like her.  
  
Pretty, smart, funny, she listens to all my thoughts and gives me support.  
  
Can anyone blame me for thinking that she's special, all a guy could want?  
  
So now I wonder just who am I supposed to end up with in life?  
  
The angel I've known, brown-eyed and always vivacious, a dynamic girl?  
  
Or the girl I see, indigo-eyed and gorgeous, the one I kinda like.' /~  
  
A round of applause struck up in the room, with a few nods of approval from some of the onlookers. TK bowed sheepishly, thanking them for the praise. He returned to his table where Yolei was completely red in the face, looking down at the table.  
  
"Did you like it?" he asked as he sat back down slowly.  
  
"It was a…a very nice poem." Yolei responded. "But TK…did-did you…"  
  
TK leaned over a little, listening to her intently as she stammered.  
  
"Did you…mean all of that?" she finally asked, meeting his gaze. She set her right hand on the table unconsciously, awaiting his answer.  
  
"I did, Yolei. I can't kid myself about it anymore. Even if you don't feel the same way, I had to get it out of me somehow." TK said. He could feel his pulse in the back of his throat as he reached out, putting his hand on top of hers. "I do like you, Yolei…you've become very special to me recently."  
  
"I don't know what to say…" she said, her voice a bit hushed. She smiles slowly, blushing all the while. "Except…I think I feel the same…about you."  
  
"You do?" TK looked at her, amazed.  
  
"Yes…I can't believe this is happening, but it's true. You've been there for me, shown me kindness, compassion, and you've helped prop me up when I could've just collapsed with sorrow."  
  
Yolei smiled softly at him as she saw his face turning red as well. 'And he's so…oh why bother thinking it, just say it Yolei!'  
  
"All that, and you're cute to boot. I mean, how could I not come to like someone like you in a special way?"  
  
TK smiled back and sighed in a bit of relief. They had both admitted feelings for each other now, and it felt a lot better; however, it also complicated things even more.  
  
"But what about Kari? She was in your poem too." Yolei asked, continuing.  
  
"I don't know yet." TK said, his spirits falling a bit. "I wish I could say how I felt for her right now. I still care deeply for her as well, but…it's all so muddled right now. Even hearing all of that from Davis, I can't help but be skeptical. Until I get the straight story from her I can't say for sure."  
  
TK saw that Yolei was a bit saddened by his words and squeezed her hand gently, trying to raise her spirits again.  
  
"I know it's not fair to you at all, but can you be patient with me until then?" he asked.  
  
"Maybe I'm being a bit foolish or naïve about this all, but after hearing all of what you said and think about me, I think I can manage." she said, managing a small smile at him. She brought her other hand to the table, holding his hand between hers. "I guess this means…we're dating for real, now?"  
  
"I guess so. I know this isn't what you intended, Yolei. You don't mind being with me, do you?"  
  
"Not at all! Not one bit…I like you, after all. Very much."  
  
"Me too."  
  
The two stayed at the table for a while, just looking at each other and holding hands. Eventually they started to get back to normal, finishing off their tea and cookies and heading out from the coffee shop.  
  
"Take…I mean, TK?" Yolei said as they walked out. "Sorry, I know you don't like that. I kinda slipped earlier on."  
  
"It's okay, you can call me by my full name, Yolei. I don't mind at all." TK told her with a smile.  
  
"Okay. That's what I was going to ask you." She said, laughing a bit. "I'm still trying to convince myself that this is all real. I mean…me having a boyfriend now and all."  
  
"And me having a girlfriend now, too. But I like the idea of calling you that, my girlfriend that is."  
  
"I can't describe how it feels to know that someone thinks that much of me, especially when it's someone as special as you Takeru."  
  
They continued to talk and laugh a bit nervously all the way back to Yolei's home. Neither of them was used to actually having a relationship, and it made the entire evening take on a surreal, yet completely romantic feeling. They reached her front door and faced each other, holding each other's hands.  
  
"Well, I'll see you again soon, right?" Yolei said at her door.  
  
"Absolutely. I'll be around, and remember we also have that date on Friday too." TK reminded her.  
  
"Of course! Everyone else will be there too, won't they? I bet we won't hear the end of it."  
  
"Probably not, but I don't care. You're my girlfriend, Yolei, and that's all that matters to me."  
  
"Likewise for me of course. Though naturally you're my boyfriend, not my girlfriend I mean. You know?"  
  
"No need to get all flustered, Yolei. I understand." TK let himself laugh a bit at how tied up the both of them were getting over it all.  
  
"Right, right. Well, good night." Yolei turned to enter her home.  
  
"Hey hold on! Our date's not over just yet." TK said, walking up behind her. Yolei turned around slowly to face him.  
  
"Oh. Right." She said, her eyes locking with his as she leaned towards him. "How could I…forget something so…important?"  
  
The two of them had shared three kisses before this one, but this one took on a whole different meaning to the both of them. In addition to being pleasing physically, this kiss was also emotionally satisfying to the both of them. They slipped their arms around each other as they continued to kiss each other.  
  
'This feels so right now. It felt good before, but now I know it feels right as well. Yolei…'  
  
'I couldn't have dreamed this to be any better than it is! Takeru is…my Takeru is kissing me, not for an act, but because he likes me! But I want a little more. Mimi told me about this once. Let's see what happens…'  
  
Yolei opened her mouth slightly as they kissed, and to her surprise found TK's tongue quickly meeting her own. They both let out a small moan at the new sensation as they continued to kiss like that from there on out.  
  
'Kami-sama, this is what I wanted! Oh, I almost don't care if I lose him to Kari now, this is just so perfect! Takeru…'  
  
Yolei tightened her embrace on TK, pressing him right up against her. TK wasn't about to pull away from her, as he was completely focused on the moment.  
  
'Does she know what this is doing to me? You're too good to me, Yolei. What did I do to deserve having you in my life?' he thought.  
  
After several minutes of kissing, TK could sense that Yolei was slowing down her kisses and did likewise. They lingered on one last kiss before their lips finally parted. Their eyes were fixated on each other, both left breathless and speechless.  
  
"Wow…" TK finally said between taking breaths.  
  
"Double that, with a twist of lemon and sprinkles on top here." Yolei added. "How do you know how to kiss like that?"  
  
"Matt likes to go into too much detail about when he makes out with Sora. I've made some mental notes here and there, when I wasn't being bored to death or disgusted with him."  
  
"Glad I don't have to hear any of that from my siblings. Of course, none of them are dating age yet for that matter."  
  
"Well, I'll see you around Yolei."  
  
"You certainly will if you don't let go of me."  
  
TK then realized that they were still holding each other as closely as they had been before.  
  
"Oh, right. Sorry. I didn't realize that. Oh, and don't forget about Friday night."  
  
"I won't. Well, g'night Takeru."  
  
"Good night, Yolei."  
  
TK kissed her one more time, hesitating after he did in case Yolei wanted to pick up where they left off.  
  
"Right. I'm off then!"  
  
"Um, Takeru? You still haven't let go of me."  
  
"Huh? Oh yeah! Sorry!"  
  
TK finally let go of Yolei as he laughed a bit nervously. Yolei giggled in response, finding his awkwardness too cute for words. TK said goodbye a couple of more times before finally heading back home. Yolei made her way into her home, passing by her parents as they watched TV.  
  
"So how were things today, dear?" her mother asked, seeing the look of happiness on her daughter's face. Yolei just smiled over at her mother before she disappeared into her room.  
  
"Perfecto." 


	7. These Are the Days That You Remember

These are the Days That You Remember  
  
Wingzoluv: And that's the whole story up to and including today.  
  
It was Thursday night, and Yolei had managed to convince Mimi to meet her online that night as opposed to Friday considering that she'd be out at the concert with TK then. She had just finished explaining the whole situation to Mimi, figuring that there was no way Kari would hear about it since she was still out of town. That, and she had sworn Mimi to secrecy no less than half a dozen times before she even started to tell the story.  
  
SincerelyPink: Have you considered selling that story to Hollywood? It'd make a great movie script!  
  
Wingzoluv: Mimi!  
  
SincerelyPink: Just kidding! Seriously, though, that's one of the most romantic stories I've ever heard! I couldn't be happier for you, Yolei!  
  
Wingzoluv: Well, the story's not over yet. Not by a long shot. Takeru still needs to sort out his feelings for Kari, and I worry that when he does he'll still choose her over me.  
  
SincerelyPink: Well at least he's being honest about it all, I have to admire him for that. Though his being indecisive is quite frustrating.  
  
Wingzoluv: That's why I'm enjoying what I have while I still have it. I can't believe how this has turned out, Mimi! I'm absolutely crazy over him!  
  
SincerelyPink: If that's the case, then I think you know what you need to do, my dear.  
  
Wingzoluv: What's that?  
  
SincerelyPink: You need to make sure that when TK does have to decide, it's you he picks.  
  
Wingzoluv: But I don't know what else I can do. Maybe I could change how I dress, or how I act a little. Maybe if I acted nicer or cuter, or something?  
  
SincerelyPink: You want some Mimi-grade advice, Yolei?  
  
Wingzoluv: Hmm?  
  
SincerelyPink: Don't change.  
  
Wingzoluv: Huh?  
  
SincerelyPink: TK got to like you for who you are, Yolei. Don't change that, or you'll end up turning him away from you. Believe me, I almost lost Joe because I got too aggressive with him.  
  
Wingzoluv: I had no idea!  
  
SincerelyPink: I started to be too intent on the physical side of our relationship, and it really turned him off. Being appealing to the eye is only part of the formula. If you really want things to cement between you two, you need to have more than one dimension to your relationship.  
  
Wingzoluv: Well, we have talked a lot recently, about a wide range of things. And we certainly know how to have a fun time together. I've always respected him and what he believes in, and I think he feels likewise about me.  
  
SincerelyPink: You see? The foundation is there, hon! Just keep building on it like you have been.  
  
Wingzoluv: I'll give it a shot, Mimi. Thanks for the advice.  
  
SincerelyPink: Whoa, hold on there! I'm not done with you yet. Just because I said not to change doesn't mean you still couldn't use a couple of pointers to hint to TK that you'd like things to go a little further with him.  
  
Wingzoluv: I thought you said that doing things like that might scare him off?  
  
SincerelyPink: And it will, if you focus on that aspect of your relationship too much like I was. That's also not to say that he won't appreciate doing things even just a little differently from time to time. "Variety is the spice of life" after all.  
  
Wingzoluv: Well, the other night's kissing was a little more intense than before, and we both sure seemed to like that immensely.  
  
SincerelyPink: That's a start.  
  
Wingzoluv: I just don't want him to start thinking I'm easy is all.  
  
SincerelyPink: How long have you known TK?  
  
Wingzoluv: Four years.  
  
SincerelyPink: And how long have you been dating now?  
  
Wingzoluv: Roughly two weeks, I think.  
  
SincerelyPink: I think it's safe to say that TK knows what kind of person you are by now, Yolei. Besides, it's not like I'm telling you to jump in the sack with him…yet. ;)  
  
Wingzoluv: Mimi!! O_O;;  
  
SincerelyPink: Joking! Joking! Seriously, though, let's get down to business.  
  
Wingzoluv: Okay, I'll try to keep an open mind.  
  
SincerelyPink: That's the spirit. Now here's some pointers on the next time you two get to kissing…  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Yolei…just one more kiss…" TK said in his sleep. He reached for her in his dreams, only to open his eyes and see he was clutching his pillow, and furthermore that the ground was suddenly getting much closer to him. He fell off of his bed with a thud and lay there for a moment, cursing his timing for waking up.  
  
"Friday at last. At least I have something to look forward to after waking up from that dream. It was such a nice dream, too." He said to himself. He pried himself off the floor after a few moments and shuffled into the bathroom for his shower.  
  
'The other night was almost unreal.' TK thought as he showered. 'I certainly can't deny my attraction to Yolei anymore. But it's not fair to keep things hanging as they are. I have to sort out everything with Kari when she gets back from Yokohama. Even if I don't feel for her like I used to, we need to straighten it all out. I just wish I knew how to help Davis as well. Despite the fact that he almost pummeled me into next week, he's always meant well and I don't wish him ill or anything like that.'  
  
TK finished cleaning up and wrapped a towel around himself after drying off a bit. He noticed that he was in considerably less pain now than he had been the past day or so, and was relieved to be almost back to 100%. He took his time getting dressed, wanting to look good for the concert and for his date.  
  
'It's funny how things work out. I guess I understand a bit of how Sora must have felt a few years back when she was stuck between Tai and my brother. What was it she told me at the time? She said in the end she just listened to her heart, and it whispered to her the name of the one she truly loved. That's always stuck in my mind. I wonder if that will happen for me?'  
  
TK gave himself a look in the mirror. He wore all white, slacks and a short sleeved, buttoned shirt. He was one of the few people around who could actually wear all white and get away with it. He chalked it up to being one of the perks of being the bearer of the Crest of Hope.  
  
'Hopefully I won't come home tonight reeking of cigarette smoke like I usually do after Matt's concerts. I hate having to answer mom's questions and reassure her that I haven't taken up smoking.' He thought as he headed to the kitchen for some breakfast. On the kitchen table he found a note left for him that was from his mother. It read: Won't be back until late tonight, I'm meeting some old friends for dinner and drinks. Remember, no crazy parties just because I'm not around. Love, Mom.  
  
"Yeah, 'cause heaven knows I'm the one who throws crazy parties and trashes the place." TK remarked as he tossed the letter in the trashcan. He fixed himself a quick breakfast and decided to head out for the day.  
  
No sooner was he down to the ground and making his way away from the apartments than he came across Davis, who was leaning against a tree nearby. TK walked over to him, a bit nervous, but somehow he had a feeling that Davis wouldn't pose a threat to him this time.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Davis knew TK was walking over to him, but didn't look up at him. The last thing he wanted to do was look eye-to-eye with the guy he'd nearly beaten to a pulp a few days earlier.  
  
"Hey." TK said once he was in earshot.  
  
"Hey." Davis replied, glancing at TK briefly.  
  
"How're you doing?"  
  
"I'm managing. I'm still depressed, I guess. Though Jun certainly helped put me in my place."  
  
Davis picked his head up, pointing to the bruising around his right eye. TK winced empathetically as he looked at it.  
  
"How'd that happen?"  
  
"Jun happened to be home when I ran back home in a fit of rage. She cornered me and weaseled the story out of me, and then introduced me to her right cross."  
  
"Ouch."  
  
"Tell me about it." Davis laughed sardonically. "She did help straighten me out, though. I mean, she reminded me of what she went through when she finally had to accept that Matt would never like her. She never went after Sora and…anyhow, she helped me realize just how stupidly I'd acted."  
  
"Davis, I really don't blame you for feeling betrayed, nor can I really blame you for the other day either."  
  
"Really?" Davis looked up at TK finally, half-amazed.  
  
"I know what Kari means to you. Or at least I have a good idea now." TK approached him a bit more. "No one deserves to be treated like she was treating you."  
  
"I honestly thought she liked me, or at least was beginning to like me. The smile on her face, the sound of her laughter…it all made my day." Davis pushed away from the tree, beginning to walk again. TK fell in alongside him. "Where did I go wrong?"  
  
"I don't think you went wrong anywhere, Davis. I think she's the one who's confused right now. Ever since I started dating Yolei she's been acting so differently, it's like she's not herself these days."  
  
"All I know is, apparently it's you she has eyes for, not me."  
  
"Yeah…"  
  
"You don't sound too happy about that. I thought you'd be overjoyed?"  
  
"If this had happened a few weeks ago, believe me I would be. But now…things have changed, and I'm caught between a rock and a hard place."  
  
"Heh, if this is your idea of a difficult position to be in, then I envy you man. Having to decide between two girls? That's a pretty nice predicament if you ask me."  
  
"Believe me, it's not all it's cracked up to be."  
  
"If you say so."  
  
"So did you and Kari talk after we all parted ways at the amusement park?"  
  
"I didn't even know she was out of town until Cody told me."  
  
"She really owes you an explanation."  
  
"I don't know if I want to hear it or not, really." Davis said, shaking his head. "I don't know what to think anymore about how I feel about her. I mean I do feel hurt, angry, betrayed, confused…and yet, I still…I just don't know."  
  
Davis slowed his pace and stopped, as he knew the store was coming up. TK stopped when he realized Davis had and turned to look at him.  
  
"Something up?" TK asked.  
  
"I'd better not go there right now, at least not until I know Yolei won't bite my head off for the other day." Davis said, shrugging.  
  
"I'll smooth things over, don't worry."  
  
"Thanks. And…I'm deeply sorry about that, too…my beef is with Kari, I guess I was just blinded by my emotions. You didn't deserve to be treated like that."  
  
"No apologies needed, but it's accepted all the same. Friends?"  
  
TK extended his hand to Davis, who reluctantly took it and shook it.  
  
"Friends." Davis repeated. "I think I'll go see if Cody and Ken want to go hang out or something. Try and get my mind off of this all for now, or at least until she gets back home."  
  
"Sounds like a good idea. Will you be at the concert tonight?"  
  
"Maybe. We'll see, I guess."  
  
"Alright, take it easy Davis."  
  
Davis just nodded and walked off in another direction, returning to his thoughts about Kari and everything that had happened. TK breathed a sigh of relief after he left.  
  
"2 down, only one left…and that last one is going to be the difficult one." He said to himself. "And the hard part is knowing that no matter what the outcome is, someone is going to end up getting hurt."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK continued to mull over the conversation with Davis until he entered the store. Seeing Yolei there waiting for him, though, quickly lifted his spirits. She wore dark blue pants with a green top, and had on her red beret with the gold pin. A pair of sunglasses sat on her face as well. She hopped off of the stool behind the counter and gave her mother, who was running the cash register, a quick hug before going to TK who she also hugged.  
  
"You look great today!" TK told her as he hugged her back.  
  
"Thanks, but you look dressed to kill today." She said as she backed up for a moment, looking him over again, smiling slyly at him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to impress someone."  
  
"Hmm, I wonder who around here I'd be trying to impress for that matter?" TK played along, acting dumb. Yolei giggled in delight, hugging him again.  
  
"You two have fun today, now. And remember, Yolei, you don't have to be back at any special time tonight." Mrs. Inoue said, reminding her daughter.  
  
"Thanks again, mom. I can't tell you what it means to me." Yolei said, looking back at her mother. She then took TK's hand and left with him, her mother waving as they left.  
  
"How did you manage that?" TK asked once they were outside.  
  
"Mom and dad finally asked me the other day about you and what all we've been doing recently, and they were overjoyed that I've actually been dating. So they lifted my curfew, but only for the weekends."  
  
"That was pretty cool of them. So, what do you want to do? The concert isn't until this evening, and we've got the entire day ahead of us."  
  
"Think you'd be up for a little shopping?" Yolei smiled innocently at TK as she suggested it.  
  
"I guess. What for, though?"  
  
"A couple of things. There are some computer parts I want to get for my machine, and I want to price a few things before I go buying anything. Also, it's one of my sisters' birthday next week, and I want to get her present."  
  
"Oh, if that's all then sure. I have no problem with shopping."  
  
"Then you also won't have a problem going to Akihabara to do it, either?"  
  
"A bit of a hike, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, but it's not like we don't have the time, and I don't get to go there that often."  
  
"Well since you put it like that, I feel obligated to take you there then."  
  
Yolei smiled and gave TK a quick peck on the cheek as they walked to the train station.  
  
"I knew you'd see it that way."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Yolei looked carefully over the prices of the items on the shelf before her. They had done her sister's birthday shopping first, having picked out a pair of earrings for her. Her sister didn't have her ears pierced yet, but her mother had let Yolei know that getting her ears pierced was going to be one of her gifts, and Yolei figured it'd be only fitting to get her some earrings. They were a pair of small, silver earrings shaped like crescent moons. She knew her sister would just love them.  
  
"What exactly are you looking to get, may I ask?" TK asked finally, boggled by the sheer amount of electronic equipment around them.  
  
"A new hard drive and a CD-RW drive." She responded, standing back up from where she'd been crouching. "My computer is nice, but it came out just before a couple of new things became standard in PCs, and I've always competed with Izzy over which one of us has the more up-to-date machine. He's up on me right now, but if I can get these things it'll put me in the lead for at least a little while."  
  
"You won't mind if I decide to stay out of whatever technical discussion you have with him, will you? I know the basics about computers, but I'm no technical genius like you guys are."  
  
"All right, if you insist. I'll keep you safe from the big, bad Izzy and all his computer lingo." She smiled and stepped around him, looking over a couple other units and prices.  
  
"You have my unending thanks." TK replied, smirking.  
  
"My goal is to someday build my own computer from scratch. It'll be a lot cheaper then buying pre-packaged computers, and a lot more fun to boot."  
  
"I admire the fact that you can do something like that. I wouldn't have the patience."  
  
"This kind of stuff has been my passion for as long as I can remember." Yolei picked up a box as she spoke, looking it over a bit. "There's just something about assembling all of these parts to make a perfect machine that will work that gives me a sense of accomplishment. It's actually very relaxing."  
  
"I guess you could say it's your own kind of writing, then." TK said philosophically.  
  
"How do you figure?"  
  
"Well, consider the parts you use as the words. You pick and choose them carefully, maybe not looking for the best ones to use, but the right ones. In the end, your machine is your creation just like my stories and poems are mine, and it tells a story by how well it works."  
  
"I never thought about it quite like that..." Yolei said, suddenly intrigued by the concept.  
  
"And you said you didn't think you'd be good at writing." TK told her jokingly.  
  
"Well, I don't think any of my works will end up on a best sellers' list that's for sure." Yolei laughed as she put the box back on the shelf. "I think I've looked around enough for now. I'll need to save up some more cash for what I need. What time is it?"  
  
"Only about 11:00." TK said, reading a nearby clock. "Still too early for lunch."  
  
"How about a matinee movie? That'd kill some time."  
  
"That works. I think there's a theater up the road a bit. Whadya want to see?"  
  
"We can pick something when we get there, I honestly don't have anything in mind."  
  
TK nodded and the two set out for the theater. This theater in particular showed slightly older movies for its matinee showings at reduced prices.  
  
"Let's see Shrek, I love that movie!" Yolei said, spotting it on the list of movies. She removed her sunglasses, putting them into the bag with her sister's gift.  
  
"I wouldn't have picked you to be one for cartoons." TK said, fishing money from his wallet. "Not that I'm complaining of course, I think it's a cool movie too."  
  
"I more dig the CG style. It's incredible what they can do anymore."  
  
TK nodded in agreement, buying a pair of tickets for the movie. They picked out a row towards the back of the theater, which was anything but packed for the showing. As they sat down, Yolei made a discovery as her hand came to rest on the armrest of her seat. It moved. She fiddled with it for a moment, until she realized that it could fold up all the way back.  
  
"Now that's a nice feature." She said, folding the armrest between her and TK back.  
  
"I'll say." TK added, putting an arm around her. She happily settled in next to him as the movie started up.  
  
They watched the movie for a while, content to be just relaxing together. Eventually, though, their interest in the movie waned as they took to looking at each other, their features somewhat obscured by the darkened theater.  
  
'We're practically all alone in here, and I doubt anyone would care if I started…hey, I'll bet she was planning on this all along. Though I certainly can't say I don't like the idea.' TK thought as he gently stroked Yolei's hair. 'Why did I never notice before how pretty she is?'  
  
'And here I was worried about trying to do this over the armrests. I'll really have to remember this place when I just want to be alone with him.' Yolei thought. In a fit of self-consciousness, she looked around the theater quickly, noting that there was no one even within earshot of them, and everyone else seemed to be more interested in watching the movie. 'All clear. That was my only other worry.'  
  
"Yolei?" TK said, his voice low and soft. "I…"  
  
"Don't worry, Takeru…" she said, snuggling closer to him. She let herself get lost in his eyes, which as she'd found out on several occasions was not difficult to do. "You can kiss me if you'd like."  
  
"I'd like that very much…" he replied, pressing his lips against hers softly. They simply kissed at first, but deepened their kissing as time wore on, and before either of them knew it they were fully making out in the theater.  
  
'So much for pacing myself today.' TK mused as he continued to kiss Yolei. 'If only I really understood my feelings…'  
  
'I feel so alive when he kisses me, and I have to admit I've gotten greedy for that feeling. If I could just wave a magic wand and wish for us to end up together I would. Takeru…'  
  
As daring as both were feeling, they broke off their kissing a short while later in order to straighten themselves up a bit before the movie ended. Once finished, Yolei settled back next to TK, a contented smile on her face.  
  
"We're getting pretty adept at that." She remarked as she felt him slide his arm around her waist.  
  
"I'll say. I think it comes with being boyfriend and girlfriend." He added, likewise smiling.  
  
"There's that, and there's the fact that I just feel so comfortable around you now, Takeru. And yet, with all the things I'm feeling it makes me wish it were next week already. The anticipation has already started to get to me a bit."  
  
"I know. I must be the worst boyfriend in the world to make you go through something like this. I'm sorry I'm being so indecisive."  
  
"Oh I'll be fine, one way or another. I know it can't be any easier for you either. After all, you've loved Kari for years, and we're not sure yet how we really feel for each other for that matter. I'd be silly to make you decide something so quickly and haphazardly."  
  
"I still can't help being apologetic about it, though."  
  
Yolei turned around in her seat, looking at TK again. She leaned against him again, smiling at him the whole while.  
  
"Then how about a deal? Until Kari gets back next Sunday, neither of us will even mention this matter again. We won't even think about it. You just be my boyfriend, and I'll be your girlfriend and we'll go from there. How's that sound?"  
  
"Kinda leaves you with a raw deal, doesn't it? I mean, I get to have a smart, witty, funny and beautiful girl for a girlfriend and all you get in return is me as a boyfriend." TK said wryly.  
  
"Oh believe me, you're full of good points yourself." She replied, adding in thought, 'More than I'd dare mention right now, for that matter.' She stroked his cheek gently with her hand, smiling coyly at him as she did so. "So, what do you say Takeru? Think you can handle just being my boyfriend for now?"  
  
TK considered the proposal for a few moments. One of his downfalls was indeed that he thought too much about everything, and the more he tried to think about the whole mess the more confused and indecisive he became. Taking some time to distance himself from the problem might help give him a new perspective on it all. In the end, though, he needed only to look at Yolei and knew that, as had turned out to be the case, he just couldn't bring himself to tell her "no".  
  
"Alright, then. I'll try not to think about it until next Sunday, when Kari gets back from her trip."  
  
Yolei giggled in delight, giving TK another quick kiss and hug. As they left the theater after the end of the movie, both suddenly started to feel even closer to each other than before. They walked arm in arm to the train station, heading back home for lunch.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK and Yolei sat on their usual park bench, eating the box lunches given to them by Yolei's mother. TK had offered to pay for his meal, but Mrs. Inoue had refused and shooed them both out of the store before he could insist any further.  
  
"I just wanted to be fair." TK said as he ate some rice. "I don't deserve any special treatment."  
  
"In my opinion you do, but hey that's just me." Yolei told him with a wink. "Don't worry about it too much. If you want to justify it, consider it as repayment for when you covered for me when I was hurt."  
  
"I guess that works."  
  
"So what else can we do to kill time until we meet up with everyone else?" Yolei asked as she sipped from her can of soda.  
  
"There was something I've been meaning to ask you, if it's not too personal."  
  
"Takeru, I'd talk to you about just about anything anymore."  
  
TK finished another bite of his lunch before asking his question.  
  
"What attracted you to Ken in the first place?"  
  
"Hmm…well, what wasn't to be attracted to? He was cute, super smart, courageous, and he genuinely seemed to like me." Yolei said as she thought. "Maybe if I'd had the guts to ask him how he felt sooner, something could've come of it."  
  
"Do you regret not getting together with him?"  
  
Yolei looked down at her half-empty lunch box as she thought about it.  
  
"Up until recently part of me still cared for him such that maybe I did regret it." She said after a moment. "Ken's a great guy, and someday he'll make some other girl very happy. He'll be everything to her and do everything for her that he can. But now that I think about it, maybe that's not what I really want after all."  
  
"How do you mean?" TK asked, leaning over a bit to look at her better.  
  
"Well, just about any girl dreams of finding the perfect guy for herself, who'll treat her like royalty and all that jazz. That was my dream for a long time too, but I don't know if that's what I really want out of a relationship. I don't want to be catered to or waited on 24/7. I want to be with someone who'll help me when I need it, but who'll also respect my space when I want to do something myself.  
  
"And I want someone who won't expect me to act or be a certain way all the time either. I like being unpredictable and spontaneous sometimes. I know sometimes I come across as being strange or even crazy, and I guess that's turned a lot of people off in the past, but it's just who I am."  
  
Yolei rolled her head back, looking up at the sky through the trees as she sighed, trying to find the words to finish her thoughts.  
  
"I guess in a nutshell, I just want someone who understands me, who respects me for who I am, and who'll care about me unconditionally." She finally said.  
  
"I think that describes what any of us are looking for, myself included." TK said, responding to her thoughts.  
  
"That wouldn't be too hard for you to do, you know. You're very easily likeable, after all." Yolei told him, looking over at him.  
  
"That's not entirely true." TK looked down at the pavement, lost in thought. "Lots of people I know simplify me down to what they've seen from me and think they know about me. The only ones who know different are anyone who's read some of my writing, and even some of those people wonder why I think like I do. Not even Matt really understands where I'm coming from sometimes. Especially about…"  
  
TK hesitated before he continued with his thought. He felt like his voice suddenly left him, and he found he couldn't say what was on his mind and in his heart. He drifted into silence, leaving Yolei a bit concerned about him.  
  
"Takeru, I'll listen to you, and try to understand you if you want to talk about something." She said, setting her lunch aside. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing, really. I'm just being silly and thinking too much as usual." TK said, shaking his head.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"I am, but thanks for being willing to listen. No one else has ever even offered me that before."  
  
"Anytime you want to talk, just let me know. I promise I'll try to listen with an open mind and heart, Takeru."  
  
TK smiled at her, a genuine smile expressing his happiness at hearing what she had told him. She smiled back and put her hand on his, rubbing it gently.  
  
'If only it were so easy, but I can't say it.' He thought. 'It's my deepest, darkest fear, and no one understands it but me. Maybe someday…'  
  
"You going to be okay?" Yolei asked after a moment. TK then realized they'd just been sitting there, looking into each other's eyes for several minutes.  
  
"Yeah. I get lost in thought really easily these days." He said, reassuring her. "Especially, it seems, when I'm looking at you."  
  
"Oh now you're just trying to be smooth." She said with a laugh. "Well you know what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
Yolei leaned over and kissed him for a few moments before pulling away and looking at him with an impish grin.  
  
"It works." She told him.  
  
"I'll keep that in mind then."  
  
"We should finish eating and take this stuff back to mom." Yolei said, returning to her food. "Then you maybe want to hit a game center until it's time for the show?"  
  
"So long as you don't mind carrying around another plush doll." TK told her with a knowing smile.  
  
"Oh, I guess I can." Yolei said, making like she was disappointed. "You are going to drown me in plushies, aren't you?"  
  
"You really haven't seen Sora's room ever, have you?"  
  
"Now I'm afraid…"  
  
The two wrapped up their lunch and then headed out for the remainder of their free afternoon together, with TK trying to plot just what kind of plush doll to win for her this time.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
The hall for the Teenage Wolves concert this time around was quite a bit larger than the backrooms the band was used to playing in. They were starting to make a name for themselves, and their venues were increasing in size and quality. Nonetheless, all of Matt's good friends were guaranteed preferential seating. It was something Matt himself did for his friends as his way of thanking all of them for their support.  
  
The group was seated more or less centrally in the auditorium, right in the front row. Sora always sat in the exact middle of the row. On her right were TK and Yolei, who were stretching out in their seats and relaxing. Izzy and Cody sat on her left, and it was Izzy that Sora was chatting with at present.  
  
"It feels weird not having everyone here this time." Sora said, looking over the mostly vacant row.  
  
"I'll say. It's not the same without Tai here leading the crowd in the usual cheers that he gets going pre-concert." Izzy replied, snickering.  
  
"I thought things were strangely peaceful this time around." Cody added. "For that matter, Yolei isn't doing her usual cries for the rest of the members of the band."  
  
"I think she's got good reason for that now, Cody." Sora told him. She turned and saw TK and Yolei chatting a bit, holding hands as they did.  
  
"I swear, nobody could've predicted those two getting together, least of all me." Izzy commented.  
  
"Love works in mysterious ways, Izzy." Sora told him. "But I shouldn't have to tell you that Mr. Internet romancer. How's that going, by the way?"  
  
"Wait, Izzy has girlfriend online?!" Cody exclaimed. "What's this all about? Is that even possible?"  
  
"Thanks a lot Sora!: Izzy shot at her. Sora just grinned back at him as he groaned, not wanting to have to explain how it worked yet again. "Okay, Cody, here's the lowdown…"  
  
As Izzy turned to try and explain his situation to Cody, Sora turned her attention to the young couple next to her.  
  
"I see you two have really taken off for that matter." She said, leaning on her seat's armrest.  
  
"You and I have to figure out what it is with these Ishida boys, Sora." Yolei said, grabbing TK by the arm. "They're just irresistible!"  
  
"But I'm a Takaishi!" TK protested.  
  
"You share the same father, TK, that makes you an Ishida whether you like it or not." Sora told him with a chuckle.  
  
"More often than not it's the latter of those two, I assure you." TK said, standing up. "I think I'll go grab a soda before things start. You want anything Yolei?"  
  
"I'm fine right now. Hurry back soon!"  
  
TK nodded and headed off towards the back for his drink. Sora moved over to his seat so she could talk with Yolei a bit better.  
  
"So what have you two been up to lately?" she asked, eager to know more.  
  
"Lots. We've had the entire day together so far, and it's been amazing!" Yolei said, recalling all they'd done so far that day.  
  
"I know the feeling, I love it when Matt and I have days like that too."  
  
"And he won me this little thing, too!" She held up the latest addition to her growing plush doll collection, with was a plush hedgehog doll. "It's not quite a look-alike for Patamon, but it's close enough."  
  
"It certainly is cute, I'll give you that." Sora said, looking the little doll over.  
  
"I have two others on my cash register at the shop from him."  
  
"You're kidding…he's doing this now too?! For crying out loud, he IS an Ishida after all." Sora said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"He mentioned that you had quite a few too from Matt..."  
  
"Yolei, I have approximately 70 or so plush dolls scattered around my room courtesy of one Yamato Ishida."  
  
"Holy crap! Do you even have any desk space anymore?"  
  
"Put simply: no. But really, each one has a memory behind it, so I really don't mind."  
  
"I know what you mean."  
  
"So what else did you guys do?"  
  
"We did some shopping, we saw a movie, had lunch courtesy of my mom…all of it's just wonderful, Sora. I just enjoy every minute we're together. It's really the happiest I've ever been in my entire life."  
  
"Well that's good, but let's get to the important part. Sora said leaning a little closer, wanting the juicy bits now. "How is he at kissing?"  
  
"Oh Sora, that's one thing I can't get enough of. He's just…it seems like he knows just what to do with me, and he swears up and down he's never done any of this before."  
  
"Sounds like someone managed to get some alone time with her boyfriend, then. But where?"  
  
"Um…the movie theater…" Yolei's face turned a deep shade of red as she admitted where she and TK had made out earlier that day.  
  
"You guys sure don't waste any time, do you?" Sora quipped, moving back to her seat.  
  
"Sora? Can I ask you something? On a serious note, that is."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Do you think…I mean, how can I…well, how did you know when it was for real between you and Matt?"  
  
"It's different for everyone, really. It's hard to say for sure, but I can tell you this from my own experience."  
  
Yolei leaned over her armrest, listening intently to Sora as she continued.  
  
"When you close your eyes at night, or anytime, try and imagine living your life without him. If you can't do it, that is if you can't imagine living without him, then that's a really strong sign that what you feel for him is for real."  
  
"That worked for you?"  
  
"I try and do just that every night before I go to sleep, and the more time I spend with Matt the harder it is for me to think of a life without him."  
  
Yolei looked back over her shoulder and saw TK making his way back down with his drink and quickly sat back down in her seat.  
  
"I'll remember that. Thanks Sora!"  
  
"No prob. Good luck!" Sora smiled, giving Yolei a thumbs-up sign. Yolei nodded in response, turning and smiling at TK as he returned.  
  
"Okay, so how much did you get out of her about me, Sora?" TK asked as he sat back down.  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about, TK." Sora replied innocently. TK gave her a suspicious look, but then sipped on his soda and relaxed. He felt Yolei hug his right arm a bit and happily put it around her, letting her lean into him.  
  
"Too bad the armrests here aren't like the ones at the theater." He said, smiling at her.  
  
"We have to pay attention to your brother's concert." Yolei replied, in a mock-chastising tone. "So behave."  
  
"I know, I know."  
  
"Still…" Yolei said, leaning her head over a little. "…how about I give you an 'IOU' for that?" She kissed the side of his neck, sending a jolt through TK.  
  
"Since you put it that way, I guess I can be good." TK said, retracting his arm for the time being. Yolei smiled and sat back in her chair, crossing her legs as she did.  
  
"…and that's how it works, Cody." Izzy said, finishing his explanation of how an Internet romance works.  
  
"Izzy, I'm not dumb. I know how an Internet romance works after all." Cody said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Then why did you ask if it was possible?"  
  
"I was talking about the idea of you having a girlfriend, Izzy. I never thought it would actually happen!"  
  
Izzy just sulked in his seat as the others did their best to stifle their laughter. He grumbled at Cody a bit, knowing that there was merit behind Cody's statement. He even had to admit to himself that it was pretty funny, for that matter.  
  
The concert was shortly underway. The crowd erupted with cheers as Matt and his band took the stage. They played a range of tunes, from rock to pop tunes with a couple of ballads woven in between as well. One ballad in particular Matt had obviously written with Sora in mind, as he couldn't take his eyes off of her as he sang it. Sora blushed throughout the entire song.  
  
After the band played a couple of encore songs the concert dispersed and the group quickly gathered around the back entrance. As soon as Matt appeared, his guitar case in hand, they made a mad dash for the bus stop. They had been in luck, a bus was there waiting for them. They all piled on with Matt pulling up the rear. He quickly handed the bus driver a 5,000 yen bill.  
  
"Get us outta here now and it's yours, buddy." Matt told the driver.  
  
"Say no more, kid. Have a seat!" the driver replied, snatching the money. He closed the doors and drove off as Matt sat down next to Sora, sighing in relief.  
  
"I don't get it, what was the big rush?" Yolei asked.  
  
"Matt's fangirls are rabid to say the least." Izzy said, catching his breath.  
  
"That's putting it lightly." Matt said. "I've lost more good shirts thanks to girls trying to clutch at me than I'd care to remember."  
  
"Still, that was a pretty hefty tip there Matt." Cody noted.  
  
"Considering that I was paying for all of your fares as well it wasn't that bad. Besides, I made a good chunk more than that tonight anyway." Matt told the youth. He then looked over at his brother, who looked to be a bit zoned out. "You alright there TK?"  
  
"Yeah, it's just late is all, and I ran pretty hard." TK said, smiling a little. "I've lost a couple of shirts before too after all."  
  
"What's that mean?" Yolei asked, looking over at TK as well now.  
  
"It's been a mixture. In the past, Matt's fans either mistake me for him, or they know I'm his brother and come after me on that basis."  
  
"They don't even care that Matt has Sora?"  
  
"That doesn't even matter to them. I could be making out with Sora on the middle of the stage and it wouldn't change a thing." Matt said, rolling his head back so it thumped on the window of the bus. "And believe me, I've been tempted to do that a couple of times."  
  
"Well so long as I'm around they'd better think twice before coming after TK again." Yolei said, grasping TK's hand in hers. TK smiled back at her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.  
  
"I appreciate the sentiment." He told her.  
  
The bus rolled to a stop in front of Yolei's home and she and TK got off there, saying their goodbyes. The rest of the group was continuing on to the coffee house for some coffee and treats.  
  
"Well, it certainly was a nice day for us." TK said.  
  
"Yeah. Well hey, it doesn't have to be over yet, does it?"  
  
"No, but there's not a whole lot else we can do. It is about 10:00 after all."  
  
"How about I come by your place? Remember I don't really have a curfew tonight."  
  
"I don't mind. We could catch a movie or something."  
  
"Sounds good to me!"  
  
TK nodded and fell in alongside Yolei as they headed towards his home, ready to begin winding the day down.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Mom? I'm home!" TK called as he entered the darkened apartment. There was no response, so TK let Yolei in as he explored a bit. "Hmm, her bed is still made."  
  
"Check your voice mail. Maybe she left you a message." Yolei suggested. TK grabbed the phone and sure enough there was a message.  
  
"Hi TK, it's mom. I'm going to be a lot later than I thought because we ended up going to one of our old hangouts across town. Don't wait up, I promise to be quiet when I get home! Love ya!" the message said.  
  
"Well, that explains that. Mom won't be back until real late I guess." TK said, hanging the phone up. He flopped down onto the couch, feeling exhaustion catching up with him.  
  
"You feeling okay?" Yolei asked.  
  
"Yeah, just a little wiped out is all. We did a lot today."  
  
"That we did. So do you want to watch a movie after all?"  
  
"Actually, I think I'd just like to lie back and relax."  
  
"Okay. I can head out if you'd like to go to sleep. I have to admit, I'm kinda tired too."  
  
TK rolled off of the couch, standing back up.  
  
"Well at least let me give you the grand tour here. I've never shown you my room, after all." He said.  
  
"Okay, someone sounds a little slap happy here." She said, folding her arms as she smirked at him.  
  
"Sorry, I get silly when I get too tired. I'd hate to think what I'll be like when I'm old enough to drink."  
  
"We'll burn that bridge when we cross it. For now, let's get you to bed, mister."  
  
"Yes mom…"  
  
Yolei laughed and pushed TK along towards his room, though she found him to be generally uncooperative as they moved along. Finally reaching his room Yolei gave him one good hard shove towards his bed. However, she hadn't been counting on him grabbing onto her hand just after she shoved him. They both ended up falling onto his bed, lying next to each other.  
  
"Hey! What was that for?" Yolei said, pushing herself up.  
  
"Sorry, just a reflex." TK said, his voice muffled by his pillow.  
  
"Hah! I'll bet you did that on purpose!"  
  
"Now why would I go and do something like that?" TK grinned at her as he rolled over.  
  
"Just for that, I'll exact my revenge!"  
  
Yolei tackled him, her hands searching out ticklish spots on him. She found one just at his side and concentrated on that spot. TK, not to be held defenseless, began trying to tickle her back. He found similar ticklish spots on her and attacked them as best he could. They kept up their tickle war for several minutes until finally TK called it quits.  
  
"No…no more… need to catch my breath!" he gasped.  
  
"Agreed…too much laughing. I seem to be doing that around you pretty often anymore." Yolei said, resting her head for a moment. She just then realized the position they were in. She was on top of him, and her head was resting on his chest. Part of her told her to get up and head out now, but she stayed where she was, listening to his breathing and heartbeat.  
  
'He's breathing calmly, but his heart is beating so fast…because of me?' she thought.  
  
"Yolei…" she heard him say, his voice sounding nervous. She pulled herself up a bit, looking into his eyes, which looked back at her tenderly.  
  
"Takeru…"  
  
The next thing she knew she was kissing him deeply and passionately, and he was kissing her back the same. She felt his arms slide up and down her back, hesitating at her lower back. She took hold of his hand in hers, sliding it down the rest of the way to her rear. She broke off their kiss as she did so, looking into his eyes again.  
  
"You…don't mind?" TK asked, his face flushed with color.  
  
"Let me show you just how much I don't mind." She replied, her voice sounding a bit breathy. She grabbed her beret and tossed it onto the floor, then returned to kissing him, now even more passionately than before.  
  
TK let his hands roam up and down her back fully now. She then broke off their kiss again, leaning down next to his head, and the next thing he knew he felt her kissing and sucking on his earlobe. The sensation was completely new to TK, and was completely pleasurable.  
  
'Is this…actually happening?' he thought, struggling somewhat with his conscience. 'That feels so good…hey I can't hog all the attention here!'  
  
TK brought her face back to his and started kissing her again. He then held on tightly to her and shifted a bit, rolling her onto her back. He crawled over her now and continued kissing her. He then broke of the kiss and moved similarly to how she had with him, only targeting the side of her neck instead of her ear. He heard Yolei moan in reaction to what he was doing and continued, his free hand at her side. He slid his arm down a bit and noticed that her top had come untucked from her pants a bit, and let his fingers lightly touch her skin at her side.  
  
Yolei had never felt anything so overwhelmingly pleasurable in her life. She found it increasingly harder to restrain herself the longer TK worked at her.  
  
'If only…if only I knew for sure…I feel like my entire body is on fire!' she thought as she reveled in the experience. 'I'd go even farther with him in a heartbeat, if I only knew how he really felt…'  
  
TK finally stopped after a few minutes and returned to kissing her. They both lay on their sides, facing each other as they kissed. TK's one hand still played at her side, touching her skin gently. Yolei finally did likewise as she had untucked his shirt a bit as well and started to run her hand up his side underneath it. After a while of doing that, they finally slowed their kissing down and settled down a bit, holding each other very closely.  
  
"I can't believe we did all of that just now." TK said as he looked at Yolei again. "I never thought…I mean…"  
  
"Shhh…" Yolei said quietly, trying to calm him down. She kissed him again gently after he did. "I know, Takeru. I know this is all new territory, believe me I feel the same way. The more time I spend with you the harder I find it is to not do things like this with you. That's just how I feel. Maybe I'm giving in to temptation a little, but I like and trust you. I know you wouldn't hurt me."  
  
"Never. I could never hurt someone I cared about so much." TK replied, stroking her cheek, and then her hair with the palm of his hand. "No matter what happens, you'll always hold a special place in my heart, Yolei."  
  
"Uh uh uh!' She said playfully. "Remember, no mentioning that! We still have little more than a week left after all."  
  
"You're right, my apologies. But we shouldn't do this the entire time."  
  
"Oh I don't know, I certainly wouldn't argue. It's not like you're bad at any of this after all."  
  
"That's because I've had lots of practice, with a very willing and competent partner I might add." He half-smiled at her. She chuckled a bit and kissed the tip of his nose.  
  
"I do agree, though. I'm sure we can find fun and interesting things to do together, though."  
  
"Yeah. Hey, you should come by the basketball court sometime when we play. Cody, Davis and I get together and usually play basketball with some other people."  
  
"You so sure about that?" Yolei looked at him skeptically, remembering the incident of the other day.  
  
"Oh, right!" TK said, smacking his forehead. "I'm so stupid, I forgot to tell you I talked to Davis earlier today. We worked it all out."  
  
Yolei looked at him skeptically, but relaxed as TK told her how they'd met up earlier that day and the long conversation they'd had about everything.  
  
"Well that certainly puts me more at ease, then. It's nice to see Davis has a rational side to him after all."  
  
"He's a great guy, really. He was just really hurt, and I don't blame him one bit for how he feels. It's just that extreme emotions bring out extreme parts of people sometimes, no matter how nice of a person you are."  
  
Yolei nodded in agreement with TK's statement. TK was about to say more about the idea, but realized where that conversation might lead him, and it was to something he still didn't feel brave enough to talk about to anyone, even Yolei.  
  
"So then, wanna come out to the game?" he asked, turning the conversation around.  
  
"Sure, it sounds fun. I could bring a cooler with drinks and stuff from the shop."  
  
"It'd be most welcome. I heard the forecast for the coming week, and it's supposed to be a real scorcher."  
  
"Yolei to the rescue once again!" She sat up, pumping her fist in the air triumphantly. TK laughed a bit at her gesturing.  
  
"I don't know what we'd do without you, Yolei." He said, sitting up as well. "I'll make sure to ask everyone who wants drinks to chip in a little. I'm sure they'll cooperate."  
  
"Plus it'll be good advertising! Dad'll go for the idea in a heartbeat."  
  
TK nodded in approval and hopped off of the bed. He then helped Yolei stand as well. She took a quick moment to straighten herself up a bit and to retrieve her beret from the floor.  
  
"I'd better head out. Your mom may be relatively easy going, but I'm willing to bet she won't be too receptive to the idea of coming home and seeing the only people in the place being you and me."  
  
"It can't be any worse when she went to visit Matt one time when he and Sora were, um…shall we say, preoccupied?"  
  
"That must've been embarrassing." She said, walking out of TK's room as he held the door for her.  
  
"It's just another of Matt's stories that I never want to hear completely." TK said, shaking his head.  
  
Yolei stepped down a bit into the genkan, slipping her shoes on as she did. She turned to face TK again, smiling.  
  
"I had a wonderful time with you today, Takeru. Thank you for everything." She said.  
  
"Same here. I'll be looking forward to tomorrow."  
  
"What's happening tomorrow?" Yolei asked, a bit puzzled. TK smiled and took her hand in his, kissing it gallantly.  
  
"Why, I'll be able to see you once again, m'lady." He said, smiling at her.  
  
"You're too much, you know that?" she said, blushing as he bowed to her.  
  
"Maybe so, but you deserve no less. Seriously, I'm always looking forward to seeing you again."  
  
"Me too."  
  
Yolei stepped back up to him, kissing him for a few moments. She then backed up again, smiled and waved to him, and left, closing the door behind her. TK took in a deep breath after she left, exhaling as he returned to his room. He collapsed onto his bed, which still smelled as if it had a hint of whatever perfume Yolei had been wearing. He peeled off most of his clothing and settled in to sleep, enjoying the faint scent of her that lingered. He slept well that night, and though he would not remember by the time morning came, it would be the first night his dreams were solely of someone other than Kari. 


	8. Boiling Point

Boiling Point  
  
Several days passed, and TK and Yolei saw as much of each other as they could when TK wasn't writing or Yolei wasn't tending to the store. TK even attended Yolei's sister's birthday party, and had dinner with her family that night.  
  
The feelings between the two had only continued to strengthen since Matt's concert, and the more that happened between them the more it troubled TK to think that soon enough he would have to face Kari as well as the feelings that he still had for her.  
  
It was Wednesday again, and TK had let Yolei know that the basketball game he'd told her about before was going to happen that day. Yolei had taken the necessary steps to prepare for the day, and everything was set for the refreshment cart she was going to provide to the players and a few of the spectators. Just one hurdle remained for her, though.  
  
"But mom…!" Yolei said in protest.  
  
"But nothing young lady, I will not have you prancing around outside in something that's practically your underwear!" her mother replied sternly.  
  
"It's a swimsuit, mom, for crying out loud! Do you have any idea how hot it is out there? I'll roast!"  
  
Yolei looked down at herself, seeing nothing wrong with how she was dressed. She wore her swimsuit top, which was red and purple striped and hugged her chest as any swimsuit was meant to, along with a pair of white shorts that came to her mid-thigh. She had a baseball cap in one hand, her sandals in the other and wore her sunglasses again, opting for her contacts over her glasses yet again.  
  
"At least put something more on over your upper body, Yolei. That top is just too much."  
  
"Fine, whatever." Yolei headed back to her room, sighing in disgust. She re-emerged a moment later, a loose, light pink tank top thrown over herself. "How's this?"  
  
"That'll do, I guess." Her mother said begrudgingly. "Be careful out there, dear, it is rather hot out and I don't want you getting over exhausted."  
  
'Then why are you making me wear a shirt?!' Yolei thought. "I'll be fine, mom. Is dad done with the cooler?"  
  
"I think so. He set it on the wagon for you, as it turned out to be a bit heavy."  
  
"Excellent. I'm outta here!"  
  
Yolei danced around her mother and bounded down the stairs before her mother could say anything more about her appearance. She slipped into her sandals at the bottom of the stairs and headed into the shop, where the wagon with the cooler awaited.  
  
"Looks like we've got everything. Water, sports drinks, some power bars and other assorted snacks." Her father said, closing the cooler up again.  
  
"I really appreciate this, dad. The guys will too, I'm sure." Yolei said, hugging her father. "I'll make sure to bring back what they chip in for all of this."  
  
"No worries, dear. Go have fun!"  
  
Yolei nodded and took hold of the wagon, heading out. A wave of heat blasted her as she exited the store. She pulled the baseball cap onto her head, pushed her sunglasses up on her face, and headed in the direction of the playground.  
  
'Damn, it's hotter out here than I thought it'd be! I hope the guys put on some sunscreen, this could be bad otherwise.' She thought as she walked, pulling the wagon along.  
  
A short while later, the playground came into view and Yolei spotted everyone at the basketball court. TK, Davis and Cody were with three other neighborhood guys, exchanging handshakes and talking. All were wearing light sports clothing for the day's activities. Yolei pulled her wagon up to the bleachers nearby and sat next to it.  
  
"The refreshments have arrived!" she announced with a flourish.  
  
The group of guys looked over and, after a bit more talking, TK, Davis and Cody headed over to Yolei who smiled brightly at them as they approached.  
  
"Thanks a lot Yolei, this'll help more than you know." Cody said, handing her a few hundred yen.  
  
"Hey, I'm out here too Cody. It's freaking blistering hot out here!" she replied, pocketing the change.  
  
"Well, it's only gonna get hotter as we get closer to noon." Davis added, handing Yolei a few coins as well. "Believe me, I might just dunk my head in that cooler when the time comes."  
  
"Do it and I'll make you wash the thing fifty times! I have no idea where your head's been, Davis, and I sure don't want to know for that matter." She replied, half-jokingly.  
  
"Okay, okay! Thanks all the same, Yolei." He said, heading back to the court with Cody.  
  
"This should cover the rest of it." TK handed Yolei a couple thousand yen in bills.  
  
"Takeru, where did you get cash like this?!"  
  
"One of the guys over there owed me from a game of Horse we played a few weeks back, and I collected."  
  
"You play for money?"  
  
"Only from time to time. I've won far more than I've lost. I guess people underestimate me."  
  
"Now there's an understatement." Yolei smiled as she pocketed the cash. "Anyone else going to show up?"  
  
"We usually get a bit of a crowd to watch, but nothing big. Still, should be good business for you."  
  
"Okay, then. Good luck out there."  
  
She stood up, kissing TK for a long moment before sitting back down, smiling at him. She pulled her shades down a little, giving him a bit of a sexy look.  
  
"I'll be watching, Takeru." She said in a softer tone. TK shook his head for a moment, smiled at her and headed back onto the court.  
  
"Aw, damn it!" Davis yelled out. "Hey, PK! We lost the toss! You know what that means."  
  
TK stopped in his tracks, looked back at Yolei for a moment, smiled to himself, and then continued on over towards Davis and Cody.  
  
"Gotcha Davis." He said, heading over to one side. Davis and Cody joined him. Yolei watched on, curious as to what was going on. She just about fell off of her seat on the bleachers when suddenly all three boys pulled off their shirts, setting them aside. She knew that sometimes for games, when people didn't have jerseys, they'd play shirts vs. skins, but she'd never expected that to happen today.  
  
Cody and Davis had good enough physiques, but the center of Yolei's attention was, of course, TK. For being just 15, his torso was fairly well muscled without being grotesquely so, like she remembered seeing in the bodybuilding magazines that were in her family's store. His arms were a bit lanky, which she already knew, but his biceps were well defined, and his back looked fairly solid as well. Yolei was appreciating every glimpse of him she was getting.  
  
'Touché, Takeru…but I might just match you there in a bit.' She thought to herself.  
  
As the game went on several more spectators stopped by to watch for a bit. Yolei sold some of the goods she had in her cooler to them, though making sure to keep some for Cody, Davis and TK who had already paid. The game went very well, the score went back and forth several times.  
  
'Cody's not bad out there, though he's trying to hard to emulate Takeru it's almost funny.' Yolei thought as she watched. 'Davis isn't terrible, but you can tell this isn't his sport. And Takeru…he seems so graceful out there, almost like he just flows across the court. It's almost like another form of poetry, I guess. Now listen to me, I'm beginning to sound like him too! Oh the effect you've had on me, Takeru.'  
  
At one point TK's team was up by several points. This was the opportunity Yolei had been waiting for. She waited until TK made his next shot and then stood up…  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Another shot went through the hoop for TK. He didn't let himself celebrate, though, as he quickly turned and began jogging back up the court to play defense. As he did, he noticed Yolei standing up. She stretched for a moment, and then took hold of her tank top, pulling it over her head, revealing the swimsuit top she wore underneath. Suddenly TK's mind was elsewhere.  
  
'Holy…am I seeing things? Is it that hot out here, or did she just…' he thought, in a half daze. Suddenly he felt a rush of air as his man ran past him with the ball. He dashed to try and catch up with him, but his shot had already gone off and through the hoop. TK cursed at himself a little as he turned to look back at Yolei, who was sitting back down now, cross-legged on the bleachers. She waved over to him, and he waved back, rolling his eyes as he did.  
  
'A little payback, eh? Guess I asked for that. Even so, I had no idea she could look like that…' he thought.  
  
"Hey TG! Stop leering at girls and let's win this game!" he heard Davis shout at him. TK shook his head again and signaled for Davis to pass him the ball.  
  
"Game point, folks!" Cody called out. He ran an interference pattern in front of TK, who darted around to Cody's left. TK passed off to Davis, who caught the ball and too it up the right side of the court. He faked another step and rolled around, heading in towards the basket. He went up for a shot and, seeing two defenders go up with him to block, passed off to TK who was wide open. TK went to the hoop unguarded and layed the ball up and in for the winning points.  
  
The three shirtless boys high fived each other in celebration, and then shook hands with their opponents. They grabbed their shirts from the pile and made their way over to the bleachers, each taking a seat around the cooler. Davis grabbed a sports drink and power bar, Cody likewise got a sports drink, and TK just took a bottle of water. All three concentrated on gulping down their fluids first.  
  
"Hoo man, that hit the spot." TK said, finishing half of his water.  
  
"I'll bet." Yolei said, leaning over towards him a bit. "Hey, something seemed to distract you out there. I wonder what it was?"  
  
"Um…well, I thought it was a mirage at first, but…" TK tried his hardest not to look down at Yolei's outfit, but found himself glancing a couple of times. He swallowed hard, laughing briefly. "…I guess not."  
  
"I assure you, it's no mirage." She told him with a half-smile on her face. She sat back up after a moment and handed TK a sandwich she'd kept aside for him.  
  
"Hey, no fair! Who does he get a sandwich?" Davis said.  
  
"Two reasons: first, he paid more than you. Second, and I'm sure this one will be the real news flash to you Davis, he's my boyfriend!" Yolei told him. TK just gave Davis a silly grin and unwrapped the sandwich, munching on it and washing the bites down with some water.  
  
"Yeah thanks for reminding me Yolei." Davis said sarcastically. He stood back up, finishing his drink. "It's way too hot out here for anything else. I'm heading back home to cool off."  
  
"I have to agree with Davis for once." Cody added. "I wouldn't even dare to get an ice cream cone today, it'd melt before I could even take one bite!"  
  
"How many flavors have you gone through so far?" TK asked him.  
  
"16 down, 15 to go. I'll have to make sure to have one tomorrow or I'll fall behind!"  
  
"Hang in there Cody, knowing your persistence you'll reach that goal before you know it." Yolei added encouragingly. The four friends shared a laugh at the thought before Cody and Davis headed off. Most of the rest of the crowd had dispersed as well by now.  
  
"Looks like we're on our own again." Yolei said, putting the lid back on the cooler.  
  
"Funny how that works out anymore, these days." TK joked as he tossed his container of water and the sandwich wrapper into a nearby trash can.  
  
"I have to say, though, I like it when it's hot. It gives me a chance to actually turn a few heads."  
  
"I'll say." TK responded, taking a moment to take an appreciative look over her.  
  
"Hey, I was just kidding!" Yolei said, smacking him lightly on the shoulder.  
  
"And I wasn't. I mean, you really look, well…sexy." TK blushed a bit, not being used to calling a girl sexy to her face.  
  
"Okay, now I know the heat's affecting your brain Takeru." Yolei began pulling the wagon with the cooler back towards home. "Pretty I can deal with, but sexy? Give me a break."  
  
"Everyone has multiple sides to them, Yolei, some sides are just a bit more hidden than others are. And some sides never get seen by the public, for some reason or another."  
  
"I can accept that, I suppose. I mean, I remember a couple of the times back in the Digital World that you just about lost it. When we were fighting real evil, you were like another person. You were possessed with vanquishing darkness."  
  
"I…try not to bring that side out that often. It scares me that I can get like that, honestly."  
  
"You're scared that you can act so brave and selflessly, risking life and limb to protect innocent people?"  
  
"I'm scared that I can get that violent."  
  
Yolei stopped in her tracks and looked at TK, a concerned expression crossing her features. TK had his head hung and looking away from her.  
  
"I've heard the fights Matt and Sora have had before…hell, I remember some of the arguments he and I have had. A couple of times it got kinda physical too. I give Sora credit that she's been able to calm Matt down so much, but I know sometimes he's still prone to fly off the hook." He said, his hands clenching into fists. "And knowing that the same hot streak runs in my blood as well…I don't ever want to be like that. I don't ever want to be a threat to anyone, least of all someone I cared about."  
  
"But you're not a threat, Takeru." Yolei said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "You've only ever shown that side when others were hurt or in danger. It was never for a selfish reason before, and I know you wouldn't do it again without good reason."  
  
"You give me too much credit, Yolei. I'm no better than my brother."  
  
"Stop that right now, Takeru." Yolei's voice took on a more stern tone. TK looked up at her again finally. "You are not Matt, okay? You may be of his blood, but you are not the same as him. You're everything he isn't: gentle, compassionate, humble to a fault…I could spend an hour listing the differences between you two. And you are not a violent person. And there's one more major difference between you and your brother."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
Yolei's expression softened a bit as she smiled at him once again, draping her arms around his neck and gazing into his eyes.  
  
"He has Sora. You, on the other hand, have me." She told him. TK finally managed a small laugh as he slid his arms around her bare waist.  
  
"You've got me there." He said.  
  
"You'd better believe it, mister."  
  
The pair shared a kiss for a few moments, though not pulling extremely close to each other. After breaking off the kiss they continued on their way back to Yolei's home. Just around the corner from the store, Yolei pulled on her tank top again.  
  
"If mom knew I'd been walking around in just my swimsuit top she'd freak, trust me."  
  
"I'll take your word for it." TK replied, pulling his shirt onto himself as well, just in case. Sure enough, Yolei's mother was tending to the store, fanning herself behind the counter.  
  
"Oh, welcome back you two. You can leave that behind the counter here with me." Mrs. Inoue told them. "Is it as bad out there as it is in here?"  
  
"Worse, mom, believe me." Yolei said, complying with her mother's directions. "Could we just hang out here, maybe?"  
  
"I'd normally say yes, but the air conditioner is on the fritz again, and your father is fit to be tied about it."  
  
"Terrific." Yolei groaned. She looked back at TK. "What about your place?"  
  
"We have a few fans, but no A/C I'm afraid." TK replied. "And I don't think the answer is to blow more hot air onto ourselves."  
  
"Indeed." Yolei frowned. "Well there has to be some way to beat the heat!"  
  
"Well, we could always try Matt's or Sora's place. It's worth a shot." TK suggested.  
  
"I guess. We'll see you later, mom!" Yolei said, waving to her mother.  
  
"Be careful out there!" her mother called after her. She then heard a crash from upstairs and bit her lower lip, hoping her husband wasn't mauling the air conditioner too terribly.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Too…hot…for…words…" TK groaned as he reclined on the stairs of the apartment complex. He had gotten out of his shirt yet again, as it had been too hot for even the light shirt he had with him. Sora and Matt were both out somewhere together, and they had no access to either apartment, so the pair were once again stuck outside. The sky had become a bit overcast, but it was still as hot as ever. If anything, it almost seemed like it was getting even more hot and humid than before.  
  
"Agreed." Yolei said, looking up at him from where she sat. She had her tank top in one hand, dabbing at her forehead to wipe away her sweat. "This is nuts…why don't we just go to your place and open the freezer door?"  
  
"Waste of electricity. Mom would have my hide when the electric bill came around."  
  
"So you've done it before?"  
  
"I have two groundings and five lectures to show for it."  
  
Yolei just sighed and rolled her head back, looking up through the stairwell. It was almost getting hard to breathe now, it was so hot. And the smell that was now permeating the air wasn't helping any.  
  
'Hey, what is that?' she wondered, sniffing the air a bit. She then noticed TK doing the same. "You smell that too?"  
  
"Yeah, it's almost like I can smell the humidity. Weird, huh?" he said, wrinkling his nose. All of a sudden, there was a loud crash of thunder and the skies seemed to just open up in a matter of minutes, pouring rain down on the parched earth below. TK and Yolei looked out at the deluge in amazement.  
  
"You're thinking what I'm thinking, right?" TK asked.  
  
"Like you had to even waste your time asking!" Yolei replied.  
  
The two overheated DigiDestined ran head on into the pouring rain. The rush of cool water was most welcome, and both welcomed the downpour with open arms. TK laid down on the ground, letting the rain drench him completely on one side before flipping over to his other side. Yolei laughed at the sight of him flopping around on the ground like a fish out of water. She helped him up after a minute.  
  
"That was my 'tuna out of water' impression, ladies and gentlemen!" TK announced as if he were performing for an audience. He bowed in several different direction as well. "Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week, try the pork chops!" TK then hugged Yolei, going a little limp as he did.  
  
"Oh no, the sun must've fried his brains!" Yolei said melodramatically. "I must try and resuscitate him!"  
  
Yolei pulled TK off of her just enough to kiss him. At first the two laughed through their kiss at how silly they were acting. They stopped kissing for a moment to finish laughing, and looked at each other. Both were completely drenched, water dripping from their hair and faces. They were holding each other very closely, and each could feel the other's skin against their own, slick from the combination of sweat and rain water. It made the moment both awkward and extremely tempting.  
  
"This is…very, um, nice…isn't it?" Yolei said shamefacedly. She tried her hardest to put on a more sheepish face, but the feeling of being held against TK as well as the fact that his eyes now seemed to match the color of the stormy sky kept her completely fixated on him.  
  
"Nicer than I can describe…" TK replied in a likewise fashion.  
  
"You know, a lesser man might try to take advantage of a girl in a situation like this." Yolei smiled at TK, brushing some of his damp hair away from his face. "And that's the big difference between you and Matt, Takeru. You aren't a lesser man, not by a long shot."  
  
"This is pretty tempting all the same Yolei…" TK swallowed a bit as he tried to calm himself down a bit.  
  
"Believe me, the feeling is more than mutual."  
  
"It's not being fair to you, though. I mean, my leading you on like this…"  
  
"Do you hear me complaining yet?"  
  
"Yolei…"  
  
"I know…I just…"  
  
Yolei hugged TK closer, resting her head on his shoulder. TK moved his one hand up to her head, stroking her wet hair gently. They stood there, in the rain, just holding each other in silence for a long while.  
  
'I know what's holding him back, and I curse the fact that we have to wait any longer to have this settled once and for all. Just a few more days, though…' Yolei thought as she held onto her boyfriend. 'I'm so tempted right now to follow this to its end, though…no, I have to wait until he's ready.'  
  
'If I wasn't being fair to her before, I sure as hell am now.' TK thought, trying to concentrate on the moment. 'What's it going to take to sort out my true feelings? This situation doesn't help much, but I have to exercise some restraint. I can't give in to that side of me…I just can't!'  
  
"We should get indoors soon." TK finally said , trying to rein himself in, though not having terribly great luck. Yolei just looked so tempting to him, and that combined with the strengthened feelings and closeness he felt to her was almost too much for him.  
  
"In a few minutes." Yolei said with a nod. She saw the look of longing in his eyes, meeting it with her own. For every bit TK was being tempted, she was being tempted just as much. Finally, she spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper. "I think we owe it to ourselves to at least blow off some of this steam, Takeru. It's not healthy to bottle up your emotions that much, after all."  
  
Yolei suddenly found herself being kissed fiercely by TK, and immediately kissed him back. Her words had been like a green light to both of them, and they made out in the middle of the storm as if they were the only two people for miles around. After several minutes they finally stopped kissing and embraced each other tightly. They headed into the apartment complex shortly thereafter, making their way towards TK's place.  
  
"Whoa. I don't think I've ever felt like that before." TK said, shaking his head vigorously.  
  
"Ack!" Yolei cried as water from TK's head sprayed her. "Just for that…!" She did likewise, spraying him with water from her own hair.  
  
"Okay, okay! Uncle! Uncle! Sorry Yolei."  
  
"Don't worry about it. But I agree, that was more intense than anything we've done so far. I'll have to hope it rains more often."  
  
"Yeah, no kidding." TK muttered.  
  
"Hah! I heard that!"  
  
TK stopped short of his front door, turned to face Yolei, who was walking alongside him, and put his arms on either side of her against the wall, backing her up against it.  
  
"Well can you blame me for wanting to kiss a pretty girl like you?" he asked, smirking at her.  
  
"So I'm back to just being pretty now?" Yolei asked in a mock indignant tone.  
  
"My apologies. I meant to say…" he leaned in closer, dropping his voice a bit. "…can you blame me for wanting to kiss a sexy woman like you?"  
  
Yolei felt her heart rate jump up again. TK sounded almost like he was hungry for her, and she had a hard time denying that she didn't feel the same way for him. She managed a coy smile at him, giving him a quick kiss as she ducked under his arms, stepping towards his front door again.  
  
"Much better. You're learning, Takeru." She said playfully.  
  
"Okay, let's get dried off." He said. Just as he went to unlock his door, it opened and the two were facing his mother. Suddenly, the both of them had a lot of explaining to do…  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK sat on his couch in his bathrobe and a pair of sweatpants, stretching out a bit. He could hear the shower still going. Yolei had accepted his mother's offer of a shower and some replacement clothes so she could get home. Ms. Takaishi sat opposite her son in her chair, waiting for him to say something.  
  
"Mom we were just trying to cool off, and we came back to dry off." TK said, trying to smooth things over.  
  
"Right. My son and his girlfriend come to my doorstep, both half-naked and dripping wet with rain water, and expect me to believe that they just want to dry off." She replied. "I wasn't born yesterday, Takeru."  
  
"We weren't going to do anything, I swear!"  
  
"You certainly were not." She said. "Not without protection you weren't, and I doubt you've had enough foresight yet to have any on hand."  
  
TK sulked back where he sat until his mind wrapped itself around the other half of his mother's statement. He then looked back at her, completely puzzled.  
  
"Um, I missed something there…aren't you supposed to still be yelling at me for acting like a raging hormonal teenager or something like that?" he asked.  
  
"You want me to be angry at you for being attracted to a girl like her? Takeru, you're fifteen years old. I'd be worried if you weren't starting to show interest in someone."  
  
"So…you're not really mad?"  
  
"Well, I was more concerned that you'd track water all over the place and create a big mess. But as far as your intimate life goes, Takeru I know when the time comes that you'll be smart about it and use a bit of discretion as well."  
  
"Unlike Matt and Sora…" TK said off-handedly.  
  
"Frankly, yes." His mother said, standing up as she heard the shower turn off. "Those two just seem to always be looking for an excuse to explore that side of their relationship. I often question whether there's anything more to them than just that."  
  
"I'm sure there is, mom, you just haven't seen it yet."  
  
"Ever the optimist." His mother chided, heading back towards her room. She picked up a blouse a pair of shorts and a pair of panties that she'd picked out and knocked on the bathroom door gently.  
  
"Yolei, I'm passing in some clothing for you. I hope it fits okay." She said, cracking the door slightly. She passed the clothing through, and it was quickly taken from her hand.  
  
"Thanks Ms. Takaishi. I really appreciate this!" she heard Yolei say from inside. Ms. Takaishi smiled and returned to her son, who was flipping channels on TV. She sat down in her chair once again, returning to their prior discussion.  
  
"I'm sure there are parts to your brother's relationship with Sora that I don't see, but when all I ever hear about from your father is about them being intimate with each other it does make me worry a bit." She told him.  
  
"I can understand that I guess. But trust me, that's not how things are between Yolei and I." TK told her.  
  
"He's right, ma'am." Yolei added, joining the conversation as she dried her hair. The clothes fit well enough for now, though she was clearly a little uncomfortable in them. She sat down next to TK. "I care for him a great deal. Sure, I enjoy when we kiss or maybe do a little more than just that, but we spend far more time talking and learning about each other, or just having fun wherever we are."  
  
She looked over at TK, putting her hand on his and smiling at him. He nodded in response, agreeing with her assessment of things.  
  
"While I do appreciate hearing that, Yolei, one thing does bother me." Ms. Takaishi said. Yolei turned back to her, a bit worried now. "Don't call me "ma'am", please. That makes me feel about eighty years old."  
  
"Right! Sorry Ms. Takaishi." Yolei laughed nervously, wondering if TK's mother did this sort of thing to him often.  
  
"That's better. Now then, that rain isn't letting up, and I'm not about to have you two running through that mess again right now, so you're both welcome to stay here and relax for now. We can see to getting you back home tonight after dinner, Yolei. As for me, I'm going to go do the grocery shopping I had been planning on before."  
  
Ms. Takaishi got up and took her purse and umbrella with her, pausing after slipping her shoes on at the genkan to look back at the pair.  
  
"Now behave you two!" she told them with a smile. Yolei giggled while TK just rolled his eyes, waving to his mother as she left.  
  
"Your mother sure is pretty cool." Yolei said, leaning back against the armrest of the couch. "I'm amazed she didn't freak out about us. I don't even want to imagine what would've happened if we'd tried to go back to my place."  
  
"Your folks just want the best for you is all, Yolei. They just want to make sure you don't get in trouble." TK told her.  
  
"I know, but it gets a bit stifling at times, you know?"  
  
"I guess. When I was younger mom was pretty over protective of me, but as I've gotten older she's certainly given me a lot of free reign, as you've seen."  
  
"She wouldn't do that if she didn't trust you."  
  
"True enough. I'm glad someone does. After earlier on, I know I don't."  
  
"Takeru, don't feel bad about it. We were both swept up in the heat of the moment. I gave in just as much as you, and we still managed to keep our wits mostly about us."  
  
"And what if mom hadn't been here, Yolei?" TK asked, standing up and walking over to the kitchen counter. Yolei could hear frustration edge its way into his voice. "We would've come in here like that and…who knows where things would've led to? I can't…I won't give into that part of myself. Not like Matt did."  
  
"I told you to quit comparing yourself to him!" Yolei said, her tone somewhat aggravated now. She stood up and joined him at the counter. "Dealing with temptation is part of being a human being, Takeru. Everyone deals with it differently, but at some point or another we all give into it to some extent, and that includes you. It's honestly unhealthy to do otherwise, because you end up bottling those feelings up and that's when those feelings can turn into something more dangerous."  
  
Yolei could see TK was staring intently at the counter, but knew he was listening to her by how still he was standing. She took hold of his chin, lifting his face to look at her.  
  
"You're not perfect. I don't want you to be perfect for that matter! And nobody is expecting you to be perfect, so don't think you have to hold yourself to some absurdly high standard all the time. In the end, you're just as human as me or Matt or your mother or anyone else for that matter." She told him.  
  
"I know you're right, Yolei. This isn't the first time I've been told that I'm a perfectionist. But…"  
  
TK paused before he spoke, part of him still holding him back.  
  
'Can I say it? Can I possibly tell her my darkest fears? I just…' he thought. He looked up finally and saw the concern and affection her eyes held for him, and knew his answer immediately. If there was ever a time and a person he could bare his secrets to, that time was now, and that person was Yolei.  
  
"I've spent a long time now in Matt's shadow." He said, somewhat quietly. Yolei listened intently, knowing that this was difficult for him. "All that time I've been thinking and worrying that I would end up following the same paths he was going down. Mom worries that he's going to end up just like our father, and that means…"  
  
"He might end up breaking Sora's heart someday." Yolei said, finishing his thought for him. Her eyes widened as the realization struck her. "That's what this is about, then, isn't it? It's less about Matt and more about the fact that you're worried about becoming just like your father like you think Matt is."  
  
"And that's why all of this is hard for me to do." TK said, walking back into the living room.  
  
"Takeru, you promised…"  
  
"Just give me a few minutes, please Yolei? There's something on my mind that I want to say. I need to get this off of my chest once and for all." TK said pleadingly. Yolei nodded, leaning back against the counter as she listened to him. "I promised myself a long time ago that I'd only ever really fall in love once, and that it'd be forever. I never wanted to hurt someone like I knew my father hurt my mother, after all, and that still holds true. For a long time I was sure it'd be Kari. Everything just seemed to feel right about being with her. But I honestly can't say I'm sure anymore. Do you know why?"  
  
"N-no…why?" Yolei asked, stuttering slightly. 'Kami-sama…is he…does he really…'  
  
"It's because I've developed the exact same feelings for another person." He said, walking slowly over towards her. "She's tall, beautiful, smart, funny, witty…she's been my friend and confidant, she's lifted my spirits when I was down, and she's shown me how to live without worrying from one moment to the next. All of this in just a few short, yet unforgettable weeks."  
  
TK stopped a few steps away from Yolei. Her face was fully red with color, as was his. She looked at him again, almost holding her breath as she waited for him to finish what he wanted to say.  
  
"And to top it all off, she has the most beautiful, indigo colored hair…" he said, reaching out to touch her cheek gently. "It took me until now to realize all these feelings I've had for you were just as strong as those I have for Kari, Yolei. I just…I know someone is going to end up hurting after all of this is over. I want to make sure that down the road I only end up breaking one person's heart, and not two."  
  
Yolei felt her heartbeat pounding inside her chest as she realized what TK was getting around to saying. Her took her hands in his, squeezing them gently as he began to say what had been in his heart for quite some time, now for the very first time out loud.  
  
"Yolei, I…"  
  
"Don't say it." Yolei said quickly, cutting him off.  
  
"But it's…"  
  
"Just don't say it, Takeru, please!" she pulled away from him, folding her arms to hug herself. "You still…you still have feelings for her too, so how could you say it? You can't, I won't let you! And because if you do say it…I'd hold you to it, and you'd never settle things between you and her completely."  
  
TK was flabbergasted that she was pushing him away like this, but not quite hurt by it either. He realized she was trying to still give him the chance to choose, even though he'd been willing to give up that choice just to be with her. He sighed, managing a small smile at her as he put his hands in the pockets of his robe.  
  
"Alright. I'll save those words for now." He told her.  
  
"By all means, save them Takeru. Save them for the one you truly do want to hear them, whether that's her or…or me." Yolei said, her voice sounding timid, almost scared. "So what happens now?"  
  
"I promise I won't mention Kari for the rest of the time she's away. But when that time comes, I need to see her alone to talk to her as well as to sort out just what my feelings truly are. I can only hope that I figure this all out then." TK replied.  
  
"When will you let me know what you decide?"  
  
"The following Monday, I promise. I won't let you suffer any more beyond that."  
  
"Okay, then." Yolei managed to summon the courage to look him in the eyes again. "It is hard, knowing you can't just fell that way about me, but I understand that she's been a part of your life for longer than I've even known of you. I can wait."  
  
"Thank you Yolei. I'll make it all up to you someday, no matter what."  
  
"I know you will, Takeru."  
  
"Now then, what shall we do the rest of the day?" he asked, taking a deep breath. It seemed to cleanse him a bit, his spirits a lot higher than they were just before. "That rain sure doesn't seem to want to let us back outside anytime soon."  
  
"Let's have a look at that computer of yours, and then maybe we can just watch some TV or a movie or something." Yolei said, rolling up the sleeves of the blouse she wore. "Maybe I can figure something out."  
  
TK nodded in agreement and the two set to going over the computer. It may not have been much, but it was significant to both of them nonetheless. They were together, for the time at least, and that's all that mattered. 


	9. Whispers From the Heart

Whispers From the Heart  
  
TK opened his eyes as he woke up in bed. He suddenly found he was totally awake and keenly aware of everything around him. He was also keenly aware of what day it was. It was now Sunday, the day Kari would return from her trip.  
  
Over the course of the past two weeks, TK had discovered a wellspring of new emotions with his relationship with Yolei. He had devoted himself to being the best boyfriend he could be to her and her alone. Their parting after their last date the previous night had been a teary one, but this was the day of destiny for everything. TK got out of bed and stared himself down in his mirror as he psyched himself up.  
  
'It's time to finish what I started. No more dodging the issue. No matter what, I won't regret whatever the outcome is.' He thought to himself.  
  
He went about his usual morning routine, showering, brushing his teeth, combing his hair to straighten it out as best he could, and then getting dressed. He chose his favorite from years past, a pair of tan cargo shorts and his yellow and green shirt. As he finished dressing, he looked on his dresser at the newest decoration in his room, which was a photo of him and Yolei dressed nicely at her sister's birthday. He smiled at it and touched the picture gently.  
  
'That was one fun party, especially the wish her little sister made.' He thought, smiling to himself. Yolei's sister had wished that she and TK would be together forever. Everyone had found it at least somewhat amusing at the time, though truth be told TK had little problem with that possibility.  
  
'Yolei, thanks for everything.' He thought as he looked intently at the photo. 'You're an incredible girl, and I do care deeply for you. I promise, no matter what, I'll never forget the times we shared. But I have to sort out my feelings for Kari once and for all, it's not fair to cause you any more heartache than I already have. It's not fair to drag this out any longer. Just know that no matter what, I'll never forget…'  
  
TK left his room silently, getting a quick breakfast at the refrigerator. He then slipped his shoes on at the genkan, said goodbye to his mother for the morning, and headed outside.  
  
'I've got to clear my mind if I'm going to sort all of this out. That means I can't be thinking about Yolei. I have to focus on what I feel for Kari. Maybe a walk around town will help me out. She's certainly not back quite yet.'  
  
So TK began to walk, trying to clear his mind of everything and focus on Kari. Some time later, he found himself walking through the park, and he stopped by the bench he always sat at and wrote.  
  
'I've done quite a lot of writing this summer so far.' He thought. He then laughed to himself for a moment. 'I remember the last time I was here. I was trying so intently to write something about Yolei, and she was trying to peer over my shoulder and get my book away from me. She started tickling me, and before I knew it we were…'  
  
TK stopped and shook his head vigorously, trying to get the image of the memory out of his head.  
  
'Stupid TK! Don't think about her! You've got to block her out if you're going to figure out how you feel about Kari! I need to walk some more.'  
  
TK left the park quickly, heading off in another direction as he tried to purge his thoughts. A little while later, he found himself passing by the train station as a train was pulling up to the stop.  
  
'The amusement park was such a fiasco.' He thought as he watched people disembark. 'I must've hurt Kari pretty bad that day. Hell, I hurt everybody that day, especially Yolei. Man, I still feel bad about that, even though she's totally forgiven me for it. I guess I was just trying to get her to warm up to me more. I liked her even back…then…damn it TK! You're doing it again!'  
  
TK smacked his forehead as he turned away from the station, angrily grumbling at himself for still not being able to focus just on his feelings for Kari. He wandered a bit, finally managing to clear his head of everything that had been running through it, and then noticed he was in front of a game center.  
  
'Hey, a game or two might get me better focused. Why not?' he thought. TK headed in and played a couple of shooter games, but quickly lost interest in them. On his way out he passed by the crane game machine again and, after finding one last 50-yen coin in his pocket, tried his hand at it. He positioned carefully and made his strike, nabbing a plush lion and sending it down the chute. He picked the doll up and headed on out.  
  
'Yet another plush doll. Yolei's collection would be spilling over her cash register now.' He thought. 'Aw hell! There I go again! What is wrong with me?'  
  
Now miserable, TK just continued to wander as he tried to sort out his thoughts yet again. It was almost noon when he finally stopped wandering around and actually noticed where he was. He was just across the street from Yolei's store. The entrance was very enticing, and were he not so resolute about resolving things with Kari, he would've gone in to see Yolei again. But he found the willpower to just pass on by, though he glanced back at the shop a few times as he walked off towards home.  
  
TK climbed the stairs to his floor and no sooner opened the door than there stood Cody, looking expectantly at him. It just about made TK jump out of his skin.  
  
"For the love of all that's good, Cody, stop doing that!" TK said, catching his breath. "You really are some kind of damn ninja anymore, aren't you?"  
  
Cody just smirked, shaking his head at TK as he helped him stand back up.  
  
"Maybe that's it, or maybe you're just really distracted these days TK." He said as he watched TK brush himself off a bit.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I mean you've been really caught up with everything with Yolei recently. Your mind isn't focusing on the things it usually does."  
  
"Believe me, Cody, it's far more than just a preoccupation."  
  
"Oh I didn't mean to downplay it at all. I know you feel pretty seriously about her after all."  
  
'Yeah…I just don't know how seriously is all.' TK thought to himself. 'Why can't I stop thinking about her?'  
  
"Anyhow, I just thought I'd let you know that the Kamiyas got back a couple of hours ago." Cody told him. "You going to go see Kari?"  
  
"I don't know how I can't go see her. Thanks Cody."  
  
"Best of luck to you, old friend. You might just need it."  
  
TK nodded to Cody and the two continued on their separate paths: TK on his way to a date with destiny as he confronted Kari, and Cody on his way to a date with yet another ice cream flavor.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK took a deep, cleansing breath as he stood outside the door to the Kamiya apartment. The butterflies wouldn't stop fluttering in his stomach, but he quelled them long enough to be able to go through with what he'd intended.  
  
'Here goes everything.' He thought to himself.  
  
He rang their doorbell a few times and after a couple of tense moments, Kari answered the door. Both of them felt their hearts jump into their throats.  
  
"TK…" Kari said, opening the door the rest of the way. She was dressed in her usual as well, pink and white shirt with shorts, her hair held aside with a pink clip.  
  
"Hi Kari. Do you have some time that we could talk?" TK asked, stifling his nervousness.  
  
"Absolutely. Hold on just a sec." Kari slipped her shoes on quickly and called to her family, letting them know she was going out for a bit. The two proceeded in silence to the playground where she sat on a swing as TK paced a bit back and forth, trying to figure out where to start.  
  
"How was Yokohama?" TK finally asked.  
  
"It was lots of fun, though it got really hot for a couple of days. Was it like that up here?"  
  
"Oh yeah, one day was a real scorcher. Almost too hot to bear."  
  
"I can only imagine. We lucked out that we had the sea breeze to cool things off, but you guys must've suffered."  
  
"Yeah, something like that…"  
  
Talking about that hot day brought back images and memories in TK's head about what had happened between him and Yolei that day, and it brought some redness to his face. He quickly tried to shake it off, cursing himself yet again for not being able to focus on the moment.  
  
"Still, my mind wasn't really on the fun the entire time, but I probably don't have to explain to you why." Kari said after a moment.  
  
"Yeah, I can imagine. I guess I owe you an explanation first." TK said, leaning back against the monkey bars.  
  
"No, I'm the one who should go first." Kari said, swinging a bit on her swing. She sighed to herself and retold the story that TK had more or less already figured out for himself. "I went out with Davis all those times in the hopes that it'd get enough of a reaction out of you that I could know if you really cared about me or not. I was afraid that you weren't interested in me like I was in you, and I didn't want to endanger what we already had, after all."  
  
"I had a feeling that might be the case after what happened at the amusement park."  
  
Kari bit her lip as she thought about how badly she must've hurt Davis' feelings that day.  
  
"I truly feel bad that I used him like that, but I more feel bad that I toyed with your feelings like that TK. We've been friends since we were little, and you deserved better than that."  
  
"Davis deserves better than that too. I think you need to talk to him as well. He was pretty troubled about finding out how you felt about him, especially the way it happened."  
  
Kari sighed aloud, showing her frustration over talking more about Davis and less about the two of them.  
  
"I just figured he'd get the point that I wasn't interested sooner or later and would just give up."  
  
"You expected Davis to give up on something? Do you have any idea how crazy about you he is?"  
  
"TK, I didn't come down here to talk about Davis…"  
  
"Well that's what we're talking about anyway because he's as much a part of what's been going on as any of us are." TK said, starting to get a bit angry with her. "I mean, don't you care about him at all?"  
  
"What kind of question is that? Of course I care about him, as a friend! I wouldn't ever not be friends with him."  
  
"Well that's not the idea he got after the amusement park, believe me I…talked with him, a lot."  
  
TK stopped short of telling Kari about the incident where Davis had beaten him up pretty badly, figuring that would only exacerbate the situation.  
  
"I should've figured he might overreact about it all."  
  
"If you ask me, he didn't overreact at all. He reacted like anyone would given the situation, what with you leading him on like that."  
  
"I swear to you, TK, I didn't mean him any real harm. My plan had been that you'd eventually get the courage up to ask me out yourself, I'd break up with him nice and easy and everything would be just fine."  
  
"All the same, talk to him Kari. He needs to hear this from you, not anyone else."  
  
"From how you tell things, I guess so. I'll see if I can't catch up with him sometime and talk for a bit then."  
  
TK pursed his lips a bit as he nodded slowly. Kari wasn't making this easy at all, and he wasn't comfortable with the fact that it seemed like she was so willing to brush Davis off. Her mind was set on what she wanted to talk about, and if there's one think TK knew about the Kamiya family, they were all as stubborn as mules.  
  
"So what did you think about me dating Davis after all?" Kari asked after a while, standing up from her swing. "I always thought you didn't totally approve of it, but you never really said anything about it either."  
  
"So long as you were happy, Kari, I was happy. Even if it wasn't with me. Your happiness was all that mattered to me." TK told her, shoving his hands into his pockets.  
  
"Happiness isn't a one-way street, TK. There's only so much you can get from making other people happy, after all. At some point you have to be happy too. And that's all I ever wanted too, was for you to be happy too!" Kari moved towards TK as she spoke. "But I wanted it to be with me. And then…I saw you and Yolei…"  
  
"Yeah. I guess it's my turn for explanations now." TK said, pacing away from her a bit. "I did pretty much the same thing to you that you did to me with Davis. I dated Yolei to see if it got a reaction out of you so I'd know if I could actually ask you out."  
  
"Really?" Kari blinked and stared at him in disbelief, hardly about to believe the fact that they'd each used the same ploy to try and get together with the other.  
  
"Kari…you're the only person who doesn't know. I have four composition books sitting in my room of writing work I've done in the past year and a half. Half of those works are about you, and how I've felt for you."  
  
'He's written…about me? Oh TK…if I had known…' Kari thought.  
  
"Kari I've cared…no, I've loved you for as long as I can remember. You're all I thought about and dreamt about for years."  
  
"Oh TK…I've felt the same for you, every day for just as long…"  
  
Kari moved to embrace him, but stopped as TK held his hand up in front of her.  
  
"It's not that simple, Kari." He said. "Because something else has happened…while you were gone."  
  
"I don't understand. What happened?" Kari asked, puzzled.  
  
"I, um…I kept dating Yolei after you left. And…I fell in love with her, too."  
  
"Wh…what??" Kari couldn't believe her ears, but the look in TK's eyes as he averted her gaze confirmed that what he said was the truth.  
  
"I realized it a week ago, and well…she more or less knows how I feel about her, though I haven't put it in words yet."  
  
"And she also knows how you feel about me?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Kari certainly hadn't been counting on this happening. Over her trip she'd had a sneaking suspicion about TK's dating Yolei, but to be told that now he was in love with her as well was a bit shocking. She quickly changed tactics to try and move things back in the direction she wanted them to go in.  
  
"You can't love us both, TK." She told him, folding her arms.  
  
"Don't you think I know that?" TK said, looking at her again. "It's plagued my thoughts and dreams for weeks now. No matter how much I think about it, I end up stuck in the same place. It's just about driven me insane."  
  
"I can only imagine. So since we're talking about dreams, let's fulfill a couple here then." She said, smiling slyly at him.  
  
Kari walked over to TK slowly, this time taking him into her arms and resting her head on his chest. TK's back went rigid as she snuggled up to him.  
  
"Relax, TK, I'm not going to bite or anything." She said reassuringly, adding in thought, 'This has to work, this'll bring him around. I know it will. TK, I love you so much…'  
  
'What's wrong with me? Why can't I relax and enjoy this?' TK thought. 'Something's out of sorts, but I can't put my finger on it.'  
  
"There was a time that this was all I'd ever needed to be perfectly happy." TK said after a moment, still confused by his thoughts and feelings. Indeed, it was still something of a dream come true for him to finally be as close to Kari as he was.  
  
"Me too. TK, I've loved you in my dreams and my thoughts for the longest time as well. My diary is full of passages where I wish you would carry me off like a shining knight and we'd live happily ever after. I always thought that was meant to be, and I still do."  
  
The two stayed as they were for a long while, completely silent. TK wrestled with his thoughts as Kari just enjoyed being as close to him as she was. Finally, Kari decided to make another move on him.  
  
"You know, I never kissed Davis TK. I always wanted to save that for you." She told him.  
  
"Oh…" TK said, swallowing audibly. He was clearly nervous at this point.  
  
"I'd have waited forever for you, TK. I love you after all…"  
  
"Kari…I…"  
  
TK saw her pulling up towards him, her eyes closed as she reached to kiss him. He felt his heart's pace quickening as she drew closer and closer.  
  
'Why is this happening to me? Why does this feel so awkward? So…so…oh, why can't I come to accept this?!' TK thought to himself, his mind racing. 'This just feels…what? What does this feel? It feels…wrong! But why? Why is this wrong?!?!'  
  
And then it dawned on him. All the memories he'd had that day, his inability to clear his thoughts, the heated conversation he'd had with Kari and now this. It was like a beam of clarity that pierced the cloud of confusion in his head. His heart had been doing just what Sora had said, it had been whispering to him and he just hadn't realized it until now. His heart had been whispering to him the name of the one he truly loved. The realization gave him a courage and understanding he'd never had before. He knew just what to do now.  
  
"I'm sorry, Kari…" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and pulling away from her before she could kiss him. He looked her dead in the eyed and spoke four words that, until just now, he thought he'd never be saying to her. "I can't do this."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Yolei had waited at home most of the day, hoping for a phone call from TK, but nothing had come. The only thing she had heard was from Davis who said he'd seen TK and Kari together on the playground the previous day. She knew in an instant that she'd lost him, and she'd already shed her tears over it. She was just hoping he'd call her up and get it over with so she could get back to being lonely all over again. It was just after noontime when she got fed up with sitting around and decided to head out. She heard her parents call after her, asking her where she was going, but she didn't feel like talking to anyone right at the moment.  
  
She walked and walked, not paying attention to the path she was walking, as she was lost in thought.  
  
'I guess it all was too good to be true…it was a fun three weeks, but what was I thinking? He loved Kari for years before I was even in the picture. I was a fool to think he'd choose me.' She thought.  
  
After a while, she heard the sound of running water and noticed she was in the park that TK had always done his writing in. She looked around for a moment, letting herself relive the few memories she had of being with him in this place. Finally, her eyes came to rest on the bench they'd sat on. A piece of folded paper was securely taped to the back of the bench. Curious, she walked over and peeled it off of the bench, sitting down as she unfolded it. It was in TK's handwriting.  
  
~/ Whispers from the heart are more silent than any whisper you have heard.  
  
Less perceptible than the whisper of the wind, some never hear them.  
  
When you do hear then, it's like you're just waking up from a deep dream world.  
  
Everything is clear, and suddenly you know just what needs to be done.  
  
I listened closely, and there's no way this is not correct in my mind.  
  
For all that's happened, and all that we've shared my dear, how could this not be? /~  
  
Her hands now trembling, Yolei noticed there was another small piece of paper taped over the bottom of the note. It had written on it, "Pull back and see what I'm talking about." She was hesitant to do it for a moment, but then slowly unfolded it. Tears immediately began to fall from her eyes as she read the final line.  
  
~/ The name of the one I hold dearest and love, that name is Yolei. /~  
  
"Th-this can't be for real…" she said, her voice a whisper as she read the line over and over. She then felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, squeezing her gently.  
  
"Why wouldn't it be for real?" she heard a voice say behind her. She leaned back and looked up, seeing TK smiling back at her.  
  
"Takeru…but-but what about…"  
  
"I couldn't bring myself to believe it until I saw her and talked with her." TK said, moving his hands to either side of Yolei and leaning on them. "Then she moved to kiss me, and that's when I realized that being with her there made me feel…well, empty. I realized that I didn't really feel that kind of love for her anymore. Kari will always be a special person to me, but she's not the one I could really love."  
  
"And…and then, what happened?" Yolei's voice was still timid, but now hopeful as she started to believe in the moment.  
  
"I told her right then and there. She was hurt, and angry. I can't say that I blame her. I probably won't talk to her again for some time, not until she gets over it."  
  
"You know…you didn't have to go to all these lengths to tell me this." Yolei said, standing up as she dried her eyes, regaining her composure. "I did wait by the phone most of the day."  
  
"A phone call wouldn't have done this any justice." TK said, walking over and taking her into his arms. "This is the sort of thing you tell someone in person. See, I found the person I want to hear these words now, and she's going to hear them once and for all.  
  
"I love you, Yolei, and only you."  
  
"Takeru…oh I love you too, with all my heart." She said, leaning in towards him. They kissed, expressing their love for each other in the best way they knew how, and after a moment they broke the kiss only to hold each other, both suddenly very content with how things were.  
  
"This is right. I know it is now, I can feel that it is." TK told her. "You're not too mad at me for making you wait this long, are you?"  
  
"In the end, it was all worth it." Yolei said, hugging him tightly. She let go after a minute, hopping back and smiling brightly at him. "Okay, so let's go!"  
  
"Go? Where?"  
  
"Dinner with my folks! They'll be thrilled to know the good news about us, after all. C'mon, it's Fiesta night at home after all."  
  
"Fiesta night?"  
  
"Tacos and other Mexican type food. Good to eat, but spicy!"  
  
"I'm not too good with spicy…"  
  
"Well it's either that, or we celebrate being together by you treating me to dinner at that new high-profile sushi bar down the way. You know, the one with the little boats that carry the sushi around and all? Your choice"  
  
TK blanched at the idea of spending that much money at the moment, but then just smiled back at Yolei who was waiting expectantly for his response.  
  
"Um…in that case, lead on senorita!" he said, taking on a mock Mexican accent to his voice.  
  
Yolei giggled and took TK by the hand as they walked towards her home. No matter what would happen from there on out, she knew she would be able to take comfort in knowing that she had TK in her life, and he knew likewise went for him with her. They may have started out reaching out for love in opposite directions, but they had ultimately found that what they had really been looking for had been right in front of them the entire time. 


	10. Interlude: Summertime

Summertime  
  
Yolei stretched as she slowly woke up, rays of sunshine peeking through the blinds of her window to greet her that morning. She grumbled to herself that she had awoken from yet another wonderful dream, and yet it wasn't that much of a loss considering that she had woken up to her other dream. The one she lived every day.  
  
'It's been a month already…' she thought to herself as she lay awake in bed. '…and I love him more every day. And he loves me back. Heh, I'll take reality over a dream world anytime!'  
  
Yolei stretched one more time before getting up and setting to her routine. She showered, dried off, and then went to the task of picking out her clothes for the day. She went with a pair of denim shorts, a green t-shirt and her beret, figuring she'd slip into her sandals at the genkan when she left for the day. As she sat brushing her still damp hair out, her thoughts turned to how the past month had progressed for the two of them.  
  
'The poetry readings we've been to have been more fun than I thought they'd be, though I'm sure that's because Takeru made them fun for me. He can be so silly sometimes. Then there was the time a couple of weeks ago he took me to that he took me to that electronics expo. I know he must've been bored out of his wits, but he took me all the same. I loved that show, and all of the new things I saw and learned, but really it was just a backdrop for being with him again. And then last week…the summer dance.'  
  
Yolei sighed and set her brush down on her dresser as she flopped back onto her bed, looking at the ceiling as she reminisced about the event.  
  
'That was the most romantic night we've had together so far. Everything was just so perfect…if I had any doubts then I don't anymore. Takeru is the one I love, and I don't think anything will ever change that.'  
  
Smiling brightly to herself, Yolei finished brushing out her hair and then headed to the kitchen only to grab a very quick breakfast and make a mad dash out the door for the day, waving to her parents on her way out. It was going to be a hot day, but a plan had already been formulated to beat the heat, and she headed now to the park to meet up with everyone who would be involved. When she got there, though, the only person there so far was Sora, who was standing around the fountain. Yolei quickly caught up with the red headed girl, who seemed like she'd been waiting for her.  
  
"Hi Yolei." Sora said as she approached.  
  
"Hey there. Where are the boys?" Yolei asked.  
  
"Fashionably late no doubt. I think Matt is trying to teach TK some of the finer points of hair care."  
  
"Again? Doesn't he get the point?"  
  
"Yolei, this is Yamato we're talking about."  
  
"So noted."  
  
"It works out for the best, though. I did want a chance to talk to you alone."  
  
"Oh? Something up?"  
  
"Yolei, you and TK have gotten pretty close during the past month or so, haven't you?"  
  
"Well, yeah…"  
  
"Would you say you love him?"  
  
"Absolutely! There's no one else I'd rather be with. He has my heart, and I have his I know."  
  
Sora smiled as she saw the look in Yolei's eyes as she got to talking about her love for TK. She could tell, from her own experience, that the feelings between the two of them were for real.  
  
"So then you can probably guess what I'm going to ask you about next." Sora said, smirking at Yolei a bit.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I can." Yolei replied, her face reddening a little.  
  
"And?"  
  
Yolei wandered over to the nearby bench that she and TK always sat on and sat down, chewing on her lower lip a bit as she struggled to talk about the overly sensitive subject.  
  
"We've talked…a lot about…well, about wanting to do it. Have sex, that is. And up until recently I didn't know if I was ready for it really. But after the dance last week and all, my mind and heart are set. I love Takeru deeply, and I'd like nothing more than to express my love to him in that manner. Even if it does hurt…"  
  
Sora nodded along with Yolei, understanding her worries and concern. She sat down next to Yolei, trying to think of how best to continue the conversation.  
  
"Well I can't lie to you, the first time usually does hurt, though as to how much that's really relative." She said thoughtfully. "But I also can't say that it'll hurt for long."  
  
"R-Really?" Yolei asked timidly.  
  
"Oh yeah, really." Sora replied, beginning to blush herself. "Look, I won't sit here and try to give you advice or anything like that, it'd be pretty pretentious of me to do so. When the time comes it'll all happen pretty naturally after all. I will, however, give you something to help out."  
  
With that, Sora reached into her backpack and pulled out a small plastic bag that she handed to Yolei. Yolei, curious, looked inside at the contents and then quickly stuffed the bag into her purse, just nodding in return to Sora.  
  
"So, are you planning on something soon?" Sora raised an eyebrow at the indigo-haired girl.  
  
"Maybe…" Yolei said coyly, giggling a bit. "I'm not telling anything, though. I want this to be a complete surprise for him."  
  
"Well whenever it happens I'm sure it'll be everything you hoped it would be and more. I know that's how it was for me with Matt."  
  
"Thanks Sora. I'm glad I have another person I can talk to so frankly about things like this."  
  
"Another person? Wait a sec, who beat me to the punch?!" Sora said, her tone completely surprised.  
  
"Well, Mimi. She hasn't left me alone about it since I chatted with her about the dance this past weekend online."  
  
"Aw nuts! I should've known she'd get to you first."  
  
Yolei stifled a laugh as she saw Sora getting slightly upset about not being the first to talk to her about the matter.  
  
"So I'm guessing Matt's not really talking to Takeru about hair care, then?" she said after a moment.  
  
"Yeah, I just hope he's not being too detailed is all. Though again, this is Yamato we're talking about…"  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"You know, just for once, I wish you would spare me the details Matt." TK said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"The hell I will, this is important stuff to know TK. Trust me." Matt told him as he paced back and forth in front of his brother. The two were still at TK's apartment. At first TK had thought Matt had come over to help him with the supplies and everything for the outing today, but when Matt had started to bring up Yolei, TK knew it was all downhill from there.  
  
"I've already talked this over with Yolei and even with mom a little. So unless you have some startling revelation to impart to me about sex then can we just get to the park and meet the girls already?" TK told him.  
  
"Talking about it and actually doing it are worlds apart, TK. I just want to make sure that when the time comes you'll know what you're doing is all."  
  
"You'll pardon me if I want to keep that part of my private life private, at least for now."  
  
"You are at least going to use protection, right?"  
  
"What kind of question is that?"  
  
"A valid one, believe me I've heard and seen too many horror stories not to ask it."  
  
"Well, of course we're going to use protection."  
  
"Good. Do you have any yet?"  
  
"Um…well, uh, no."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because we haven't decided to go through with this yet, and I don't want people to think things about us!"  
  
"Wow, TK, that's about the lamest excuse I've ever heard for that." Matt said, somewhat amazed. TK growled a bit, but stopped as Matt approached him, an extremely serious look in his eyes. "You think this sort of thing happens after lots of careful planning? Nothing could be farther from the truth. I guarantee you one of these times you two are going to be alone, with no one around for about ten miles or so, and nobody else is going to be stopping by wherever you are for several hours. One thing will lead to another, and that'll be all it takes. If you're not prepared for something like that ahead of time, and have protection on hand, then you have no business even talking about having sex because unless you're going to be responsible about it, doing it will end up being the biggest mistake you ever make.  
  
"If you doubt me, I have one friend from school who can show you proof of what happens when you act carelessly like that, and another who can tell you about a real close scare she had one time."  
  
Matt backed away, letting TK absorb what he'd said. TK managed to gulp down the fear his brother had put into him and looked at him again  
  
"By proof…you mean…" TK said.  
  
"His girlfriend had a child." Matt replied. "The kid's about 8 months old now, and they're doing well, but a lot of sacrifices were made because of one careless mistake."  
  
"I understand, Matt. I never thought about it all like that, really." TK looked down a bit, feeling a bit of shame. Matt walked back over and patted him on the back.  
  
"You wouldn't have, TK. I'm just glad I could be there to help you realize this is all." He said, smiling at him. "Now come on, we've kept those two ladies waiting long enough."  
  
"Right."  
  
The two picked up a couple of bags filled with things for the outing and began to head out for the park. As they left TK's apartment, TK looked sidewise at his brother.  
  
"If you don't mind me asking, what about the other person you mentioned? The girl who had the scare?"  
  
"Her? Oh, she thought she'd missed her period and was worried she'd gotten pregnant. She went to the doctor, though, and everything came back negative. She was just running a bit late that month was all. God knows that was a relief to me." Matt told him.  
  
"So you're close friends with this girl?"  
  
"So are you for that matter, TK." Matt told him without looking at him. TK thought about it for a minute as they waited for the elevator, and then it dawned on him who Matt was talking about.  
  
"You don't mean…"  
  
"Sure was the scariest week of my life when Sora thought she was pregnant." Matt said, entering the elevator as the doors opened. "I've never been careless since."  
  
"Trust me, Matt. I won't be careless if the time comes with me and Yolei."  
  
"I know, TK." Matt said, smiling at his brother again. "But you misspoke a bit. The way you two are, it's not an "if", it's a "when"."  
  
TK just blushed profusely as Matt chuckled a bit on their way to the ground floor to meet up with the girls and start their day of fun and cooling off.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK pressed his back up against the wall, panting slightly as he held his weapon up to his chest. He peered around the corner, confirming that his targets were in view. He heard footsteps coming up behind him and whirled, seeing Yolei joining him by the building.  
  
"Are they there?" she asked silently, clutching her own weapon in her hands.  
  
"Yes, but they're armed. I think we can get the drop on them, though." He told her.  
  
"We'll have to if we're going to survive. I'm ready whenever you are."  
  
"Okay. On three. Ready?"  
  
Yolei tensed herself as she waited for his count, ready to move on a moment's notice.  
  
"Three!" TK suddenly said, taking off. Yolei took a second to react, then followed him on out. They closed the distance between them and their intended targets and opened fire, spraying Matt and Sora with as much water as they could get to land on them. Matt and Sora whirled as they felt the water spray them, trying to hit TK and Yolei with their own streams, but to no avail. The pair were already high tailing it away from the scene.  
  
TK and Yolei ducked around a few corners and sat down inside a stairwell, catching their breath. They gave each other a high-5 and chuckled a bit at their success.  
  
"What're you two up to? They heard someone ask coming down the stairs. They both looked up to see Davis coming down, hands in his pockets.  
  
"Shhh!" Yolei said, trying to shush him. "Water war with Sora and Matt!"  
  
"Ohhh, I getcha. You sure TG isn't slowing you down, though?"  
  
"Put a sock in it, Davis. Hey, why are you here?" TK asked.  
  
"Um…I, uh…well, I'm meeting someone." He said nervously.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
No sooner was the question posed than it was answered. Kari hopped down the stairs, playfully bumping into Davis on her way down.  
  
"Hey, what is this, an impromptu party?" she asked, pouting a little. "And no one invited me, as usual."  
  
"They're hiding from Matt and Sora." Davis told her. "All set?"  
  
"You bet."  
  
TK raised his eyebrow at Davis, who gave him a thumbs-up sign, smiling at him. TK smiled back, nodding. Yolei, on the other hand, stood up and approached Kari slowly.  
  
"Kari…we haven't talked since…well, since…" she said hesitantly.  
  
"Since TK dropped me like a bad habit." Kari said, finishing her sentence for her.  
  
"…I wasn't exactly going to put it like that!"  
  
"I've already dealt with my feelings about it, Yolei. And it took me a while, but I think I'm ready to move on now." Kari told her as she bumped Davis yet again.  
  
"You know that I never intended for all of this to happen from the outset, right?"  
  
"Yeah, but as I found out the hard way, sometimes things never go like you planned them to."  
  
"I'll say. Well, you two have fun together."  
  
"I think we will. And Yolei, do me one favor?"  
  
"Name it."  
  
"Make doubly sure you take care of him for me." Kari said, indicating TK with a nod in his direction. "If I can't be the one in his life, then I'd want it to be someone like you who I knew would always watch out for him."  
  
"I'll take good care of him, Kari. I promise." Yolei said sincerely.  
  
Kari nodded and the two girls hugged briefly before Kari returned to Davis, departing with him and leaving TK and Yolei alone in the stairwell once again.  
  
"They'll be good for each other." TK said as he stepped over to Yolei.  
  
"Yeah, knowing them together they'll manage to have more fun than should be healthy." Yolei joked.  
  
"Speaking of play, where did Matt and Sora go off to I wonder?"  
  
"Let's check."  
  
The two peeked out from their hiding spot and didn't see anything immediately, so they stepped out into the open, the door closing behind them. Matt and Sora had been lying in wait in that position for some time and opened fire on them, hitting both of their targets repeatedly. TK and Yolei whirled at the first contact of water, returning fire as best they could. The four raced along side by side, trading shots as they went, until finally they were back near the Inoue store, out of water.  
  
"We need to get more people in on this before summer's over." Sora said, catching her breath.  
  
"I'll say. Great fun and a way to cool off as well." Matt added. "We should get a change of clothes before we head out on our date, though."  
  
"Likewise here. See you guys later, then?" TK asked.  
  
"Sure thing. Later guys!" Matt said, leaving with Sora. Sora waved to them as she fell in alongside her boyfriend, chatting it up with him as they walked.  
  
"Well, I'm going to head home and change myself." TK said, wiping some sweat from his brow.  
  
"I'll be over shortly after I do the same." Yolei told him. She kissed him briefly before disappearing into the store. TK headed off towards his place as well.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
A few minutes later, Yolei was dressed again in a one-piece lavender dress and was brushing out her hair, thinking over how much her world had changed. Every time she was with TK felt magical, whether it was at the movies, having dinner out or with family, just watching TV, or in the park talking while he wrote. And it felt right, to boot. She wasn't afraid of her feelings for him like she remembered being before. She knew there was still some resentment between her and Kari over the whole matter, but today had at least been a step back towards them rebuilding their friendship. Yolei didn't give it much thought, though. Kari would come around on her own time, after all.  
  
Yolei grabbed her blue kerchief, tying it around her head as she finished brushing her hair out. She then saw what had been sitting under the kerchief and smiled inwardly. It was the "gift" of sorts from Sora earlier that day. The timing was perfect for it for that matter. She had the day off from the store, TK's mother was halfway across the city shopping for a new TV set, and most of their friends were occupied with other activities. They'd be all alone with more than enough time to do what she had in mind. Affirming one last time in her mind about how much she wanted this, she took the pack of condoms, and tossed it into her purse. She then grabbed her purse and left, waving goodbye to her folks as she did.  
  
'I hope he doesn't freak out too much over this, but I can't stand waiting anymore!' she thought as she walked to TK's apartment. 'I love him so much, it's time to show him just how much.'  
  
Moments later she was ringing the doorbell to the Takaishi home. TK answered the door quickly, dressed in a yellow t-shirt and his cargo shorts. His hair still looked messy and damp, though. Yolei figured he'd just taken a shower.  
  
"C'mon in, mom's been gone for a while I guess." TK said, letting her step past him. "Let me finish drying my hair and we'll figure out what we want to do today."  
  
Yolei just nodded silently, stepping up from the genkan as TK headed back to his room. Yolei took the opportunity to carefully turn the deadbolt in the front door, just in case anyone got any ideas. She walked slowly to his room as she heard a hair dryer turn on. She felt her heart rate jump up as nervousness set in about the whole matter, but she was resolute nonetheless. She stepped into TK's room, unbeknownst to TK who was busily drying his hair. She quietly closed his door and locked it as well, and then set her purse on the edge of the bed as she walked over and slid her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. TK jumped a bit, but relaxed as he felt her hugging him. He shut off his hair dryer and looked over his shoulder at her.  
  
"You snuck up on me there. Sure you're not taking ninja lessons from Cody now?" he asked with a smile.  
  
"Nope. But that thing's loud enough you wouldn't hear a bomb go off you know?" she replied simply.  
  
"I guess so. I should get a new one I guess, this one's pretty old."  
  
Yolei released him and stepped back as he walked over to the other side of his room, finally noticing the door was closed. He walked over to it to open it, only to find it locked.  
  
'When did the door close and…get…locked…' TK thought to himself as reality quickly set in. He swallowed a little and turned to look at Yolei again, who was sauntering over to him slowly, smiling at him all the while.  
  
"Um…Y-Yolei, we really…I mean…oh geez…" TK said, fumbling for words as he always did when he got nervous. Yolei shushed him as she reached him, running her hands through his now dry hair gently.  
  
"Nobody's around, we've got the place all to ourselves, and yes I have protection with me." She told him. "Now can you give me one good, solid reason why we shouldn't?"  
  
"Um…give me a few minutes! I can think of one…maybe! It's just…we're so…and it's so…"  
  
"Takeru…" Yolei said quietly as she kissed the edge of his mouth. "I love you. I've loved you for some time now. And I want to show you just how much now. So please…don't deny me something I've been waiting so long for."  
  
"Yolei, I love you too…and I can't say I haven't been thinking about this for a long time, either." TK replied, kissing her back a bit now. "Are you sure about this? It might…I mean, I've heard that it could hurt a bit for you…"  
  
"Well, then…" Yolei said as she turned the lights off in his room. "…I guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK rolled over as he awoke from his nap, his eyes focusing on his clock. Yolei had come over at 1:00 PM, and the time now read 3:15 PM. A quick look around his room confirmed that she wasn't present, though he could hear water running in the bathroom. He took the opportunity to grab his clothes and get dressed again, as he saw that her clothes were gone from where they'd been on the floor. No sooner did he pull his shirt on and begin to tuck it into his short than she returned, smiling at him. She waited for him to finish and then walked over to him, hugging and kissing him as she reached him.  
  
"Good nap?" she asked cheerily.  
  
"Very good." He replied smirking. "Indeed, the best nap ever. Especially with what preceded it."  
  
"Yeah, I have to agree with you there. Oh, and to answer the question: it did hurt some at first, but certainly not by the end." She told him kissing him on the tip of his nose as she walked away a little. "And words can't even describe what the second time was like for that matter."  
  
TK laughed and caught her in his arms, picking her up as he hugged her. Yolei laughed as he did, fidgeting a bit in his embrace.  
  
"I love you so much, Takeru." She said after he'd set her down.  
  
"I know. I love you just as much, Yolei." He told her. "Now, let's go hit that amusement park again, eh? This time we'll have a properly good time."  
  
"Perfecto!" she exclaimed. She followed him out of his room after they cleaned things up a bit more, and they left for the amusement park shortly afterwards.  
  
A lone window was left open in TK's room, and a breeze played through the room, flipping open his newest composition book, which had a few scrawlings in it so far. The pages stopped flipping to show his latest work of poetry.  
  
~/ Beautiful angel…eyes like violet flowers…she who loves me back.  
  
Glorious angel…with a sweet, melodic voice…she who I love back.  
  
Oh divine angel…the one that is now my own…I will not look back  
  
My dearest angel…who offered love unto me…I will love you back.  
  
For now and always…my heart belongs to just you…indigo angel.  
  
I'd do it again…for the love of an angel…my angel, Yolei. /~ 


	11. Hallelujah, part 1

Hallelujah, Part 1  
  
Summer was quickly coming to an end. It was easy to tell, and not just because of all the back-to-school sales being advertised. The air was changing, cooling, giving a sense that autumn was much closer than everyone thought it was. TK especially loved the times just as the seasons were changing, as it gave him some of the best inspiration for his writing. He was seated on his usual, favorite bench, scribbling feverishly in his composition book, jotting down ideas for stories, small, quick poems.anything that came to mind.  
  
"You sure get into that stuff, don'tcha PJ?" Davis asked as he approached him in the park. TK finished his last sentence and looked up at his friend, blinking his eyes a few times.  
  
"Heh, hey Davis. How long you been there?" he asked, rubbing his eyes a bit.  
  
"A couple of minutes. I was beginning to hope that some of Cody's ninja skills were beginning to rub off on me."  
  
"I resent that comment." Cody said as he poked his head up from behind TK's bench. Both TK and Davis jumped at the sudden appearance of the younger Digidestined.  
  
"So it's true then? You really are a ninja??" TK asked as he picked himself up off the ground.  
  
"No."  
  
"Then why did you say you resented my comment?" Davis asked.  
  
"I resent any time I get compared to you, Davis." Cody said, smirking at him.  
  
"Aren't you a riot." Davis said flatly. TK and Cody chuckled a bit.  
  
"As much as I'd love to stick around and abuse you some more, Davis, I'm on an errand for grandpa."  
  
"More ice cream money?" TK asked.  
  
"Only 5 flavors left, and I'm running out of time. Please let your mom know that if she has any odd jobs she wants done I'll be happy to do them for a nominal fee."  
  
"Will do, Cody." TK said, laughing.  
  
"Same goes for you too, Davis. Let your folks know I'm available for hire."  
  
"I'd pay you just to stop cracking on me." Davis commented.  
  
"That's acceptable."  
  
"Don't tempt me."  
  
"Then the beatings will continue, my begoggled companion."  
  
"Don't you have an errand to get back to?"  
  
"Yeah, you'd better go Cody. Before I turn watching you abuse Davis into a spectator sport." TK added, continuing to chuckle at the two.  
  
Cody snickered a bit and waved to his two friends as he jogged off to continue his errand. Davis sighed and sat down next to TK with a grunt.  
  
"So is this why I had to miss my Saturday morning cartoons, man? Just so you could have Cody abuse me some more?" he asked.  
  
"I swear I didn't even know he was there, Davis. No, I had a much more serious reason for meeting you this morning."  
  
"It must be serious, since I don't see Yolei anywhere either. Unless she's taking ninja courses too?" Davis looked around nervously after his last comment.  
  
"She's not here today, Davis. Remember? She went with Sora and Kari on that day trip to the hot springs."  
  
"So you're a free man for the day, then?"  
  
"Just today."  
  
"And you wanted to spend it with me? I'm touched!" Davis said melodramatically, batting his eyes at TK.  
  
"Do you want me to call Cody back here to abuse you more?" TK replied, unamused.  
  
"You're no fun at all."  
  
"That's not what."  
  
"I don't even want you to finish that sentence." Davis said, cutting TK off. "So are you going to get to the point of this all?"  
  
"What I want to know is how did you manage to pull it off?" TK asked, turning serious.  
  
"Pull what off?" Davis asked, curious as to what TK meant.  
  
"How did you get back together with Kari?"  
  
"That's what this is all about?"  
  
"Davis, I hurt her bad. I know I did. The last time I talked with her for a good length of time was before the dance, and we all remember what happened back then. After that, the next time I saw her she was with you at the dance and she seemed genuinely happy again. I just want to know to satisfy my own curiosity. I am still her friend after all, even if I hardly see her anymore."  
  
"I getcha." Davis said, sitting forward a bit now on the bench. "I hope you like long stories, then, because this one will take a while."  
  
"I've got nothing else going on today, Davis, so let's hear it."  
  
Davis took a long, deep breath and turned to face TK, slinging one arm over the back of the bench.  
  
"Things started to pick back up about a week after you'd dropped the bomb on Kari."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
  
  
"No way, Tai!"  
  
"Davis, c'mon, you've got to help me out here!"  
  
"Trust me, Tai, I'm not the one for this. I'm about the last person for this for that matter."  
  
"You're the only person for something like this, and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. Not when it comes to my little sister."  
  
"You can keep this up until you lose your voice, Tai, you're not changing my mind. I'm sorry."  
  
Davis turned and began to walk away from Tai, shaking his head.  
  
"So that's it?! You're just going to give up and walk away? I thought you cared about Kari, Davis! I thought you really felt something for her."  
  
"Damn it, Tai, don't make this any harder than it already is on me."  
  
"So if you do feel something for her why won't you help me?"  
  
"Because she doesn't like me, Tai!" Davis snapped back at him, looking at his friend angrily now. "She doesn't care if I live or die! I've pined after her for as long as I can remember! I've gone out of my way to be nice to her! I've done everything possible to show her how much I cared about her, and she throws it all back in my face because she loves TK!  
  
"She still does, for that matter! I know she does! Even though he's with Yolei, I know she'd like nothing better than to get him back from her. And even after everything I've tried to be to her, she doesn't even like me a little. So if I'm nothing to her then why should she mean anything to me?  
  
"So yeah, Tai. I'm giving up and walking away. You don't like it? I don't care anymore. I don't care about anything anymore. What's the.what's the damn point in caring at all anymore? If I can't be with her."  
  
Davis choked back the tears that were welling up again and managed to look Tai in the eye again. Tai looked back at him just as sternly as he'd been, obviously with something to say back to him.  
  
"You sound just like me, you know?" Tai told him.  
  
"I've heard that one before."  
  
"You sound just as pissed off as I was when I lost Sora to Matt. Hell, I remember saying those exact same words to Joe. 'What's the damn point in caring anymore?' So tell me, then, how long are you going to take to get over yourself Davis?"  
  
"Shut up, Tai."  
  
"You shut up and listen!" Tai snapped, stepping up to just inches from Davis. "Quit feeling so damn sorry for yourself and do what you know is right! You're different from me in that you've actually got a second chance here. I'll never be the one for Sora. I've.I've accepted that now."  
  
Davis looked at his mentor, seeing that his expression had already begun to soften as he talked about the girl he'd lost out on, and listened a bit more closely to what Tai had to say.  
  
"Just like you, I thought I was doing everything right. I thought for sure it'd be me. Then Sora told me she'd been seeing Yamato for about a month when I finally asked her out. It crushed me at the time. It still does a little whenever I see them together. When I talked to Joe about it, he set me straight. When I asked him, 'What's the damn point in caring anymore?' he told me this: you can never really stop loving someone. Once you've started, they will always hold a special place inside of you, no matter what happens. Maybe the kind of love you feel changes, but it never goes away.  
  
"I will always love Sora, no matter what happens. But I love her too much to destroy our friendship over my petty jealousy. Even if sometimes I want to just grab Matt and shake him after hearing about some of the fights he has with her, and make him realize how lucky he is to have her.I just couldn't do that to her."  
  
Tai finally looked back at Davis, who looked like he was grasping what he was trying to tell him.  
  
"You, on the other hand, have a rare second chance Davis. Kari needs someone right now more than ever, and you're the only one I can think of who could fill that void. Now can you honestly tell me you still don't have feelings for her?"  
  
"Like you said, Tai.how could I ever not care about her?" Davis said, a hint of defeat in his voice.  
  
"Then go to her. Help lift her spirits however you can. If anything does come of it, you have my blessing. If not, then maybe it's not meant to be, but don't stop being her friend."  
  
Davis lifted his head at Tai, looking at him for a long, silent moment. Part of him resented the elder Digidestined for putting him in such a situation. Moreover, though, he knew Tai was right.  
  
'Kari needs someone.no, she needs a friend. If that's all I'll ever be, then that's at least more than being nothing to her.' He thought. 'I have to help her.'  
  
"I won't. I promise, Tai. I'll always be there for her, no matter what."  
  
Tai smiled again at Davis and clapped his hand on his shoulder. He departed after that, leaving Davis to his thoughts so he could figure out just how to face the girl he cared for, and help her rejoin the world.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"I visited Kari the same day that I had that talk with Tai." Davis said, after recanting his confrontation with Tai. "She was in pretty bad shape, almost like she hadn't left her home since you and she talked a week earlier. After a lot of coaxing, I got her to clean herself up and we went out for a late lunch. We talked while we ate, and then we just kept talking. We'd walk around and just talk about things on our minds"  
  
"So you worked everything out right then and there?" TK asked.  
  
"Kinda. We decided to give things another try, but we'd try to do it right this time. I promised I wouldn't be so overbearing and overprotective, and she promised to not be so coy about her feelings. We went out a couple of times during the week, and things were going good. I was starting to feel close to her again.  
  
"Then I asked her about the Summer Festival, and at first she wanted to go. Later that day, though, she called me up again and said she'd changed her mind and didn't want to go. I could tell she was upset on the phone, but at the time I didn't know why."  
  
"My turn to fill in, I guess." TK said, sitting up a bit now. "I think I remember that particular day. I met Yolei at the department store that morning."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Are you sure your folks are okay with you spending this much money?" TK asked as he looked at the prices of the dresses Yolei was looking at.  
  
"My mom is so ecstatic to see me having a social life, I'm surprised she didn't just hand me her credit card." Yolei joked as she draped another dress over TK's outstretched arms. He was now holding 8 dresses. "Seriously, though, she only gave me half of the money I'm working with. The rest is from a combination of work and money saved from Christmas and my birthday."  
  
"I thought you spent most of your money on computer parts?"  
  
"That's not to say I spend all of it on computer parts, silly." She winked playfully at him.  
  
"So how many dresses are you going to look at?"  
  
"Oh, about 10 to start."  
  
"To start?!"  
  
"Yeah! Well, that's what Mimi recommended. Of course I'll probably go back and pick some others out, so probably 20 or so by the end."  
  
"Hence why you told me to dress comfortably for this and make sure to get plenty of sleep last night."  
  
"Yup. We're here for the long haul."  
  
TK sighed and hung his head a bit, disappointed that his day with Yolei was going to be caught up in something that, to him, seemed to mundane. Yolei sensed the disappointment in him and stepped alongside him, smiling.  
  
"I want to look just right for you for the Festival, Takeru. I know you'd rather be doing something more fun, but the fact that you're here means the world to me." She told him.  
  
"After everything I put you through, this is the least I can do for the one I hold most dear to me." TK responded, smiling back.  
  
"That's my Takeru."  
  
Yolei leaned over the pile of clothing in TK's arms, kissing him briefly before heading back to the racks. TK smiled and straightened up, doing his best to hold up the pile of clothing for his girlfriend.  
  
A couple of hours, and a couple dozen dresses later, Yolei was making her final choices in secret as TK waited. She insisted that he not see what her final choice was, because she wanted to surprise him. TK had his own guess as to which dress she picked, but decided to keep it to himself until the Festival. He strolled along, looking at a few things idly as he went.  
  
"TK?" a voice called to him. He turned to see Kari standing not too far away, her purse slung over one shoulder.  
  
"Kari.hey, how's it going?" he asked, quickly trying to be upbeat.  
  
"Good! I'm fine. You?" Kari asked, her response a bit delayed.  
  
"Oh, same as always. Writing my hands off."  
  
"Heh, I guess some things never change."  
  
"I guess. So, what brings you here?"  
  
"Me? I'm, uh.just browsing. I need new.shoes."  
  
"Aren't shoes on the second floor?"  
  
"Right! I was just looking for the escalator is all."  
  
"Kari, the escalator is on the way in."  
  
"Well.I just.I mean, I saw you and I wanted to."  
  
"Kari, what's going on? Are you alright?"  
  
TK could see that there was something in her eyes and voice that made her look distressed. She seemed to want to say something, but couldn't bring herself to say it. Her gaze never quite met his as she seemed to search for the courage to say what she wanted.  
  
"I.I just need to.TK, can't we."  
  
Before Kari could finish, Yolei hopped up behind TK, her bag in hand.  
  
"All set! I think I picked a good one for the Summer Festival, Takeru. You'll be really." She then looked up and saw Kari standing across from them. ".surprised."  
  
Seeing the two together was the last straw. Before she broke down into an emotional mess yet again, Kari closed her eyes and cursed herself for thinking she could go back to life as usual.  
  
"I-I'm sorry. I need to leave." she said, quickly turning away from the couple and walking quickly towards the exit.  
  
"Kari, wait! We really need to talk!" TK called after her. She didn't even so much as look back as she left the store. TK cursed quietly at himself.  
  
"She's still upset, isn't she?" Yolei said after a moment.  
  
"I can't blame her. I hurt her pretty badly when I talked to her last."  
  
"We both hurt her, Takeru. You're not solely to blame."  
  
"I'm still not completely convinced of that, Yolei. I could've done it better, even sooner! I could've let her down more easily."  
  
"Hindsight is 20/20. You handled things as best as you could at the time. Don't beat yourself up over what might have been."  
  
"I guess."  
  
"Do you remember what you said to me before you made your decision, Takeru?" Yolei asked, turning him to face her. "You said you wanted to make sure that you made the right decision and end up hurting only one person, not two. You did just what you set out to do, and no one can fault you for that. No one could've handled such an awkward situation any better."  
  
"Even so, I just hope I haven't damaged our friendship as well."  
  
"Kari will come around when she's ready. I know I have some talking to do with her too. Like I said, you're not the only one who's hurt her."  
  
TK nodded in agreement, managing to smile at Yolei once again.  
  
"You don't.regret your decision, do you Takeru?" she asked, half-coyly, half-worriedly. TK smiled a bit more and shook his head as he touched her cheek gently.  
  
"How could I? I picked the girl I love, after all." He said, smiling at her reassuringly.  
  
Yolei smiled brightly again and stepped up to him, sharing a longer kiss with her boyfriend this time. Resisting the urge to make a real scene in the store, she broke off the kiss after a few moments and took him by the hand as they continued the rest of their day together, intent on having a bit more fun.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"I still don't know if running into Kari was purely accidental, or if she ended up following us into the store. One thing's for sure, deep down she was still upset about what happened between her and me." TK said, wrapping up his part of the story.  
  
"That sure explains a lot. Kari never told me what happened that day, just that she didn't want to go to the Festival. I figured it had something to do with you guys, though."  
  
"So how did you convince her to go?"  
  
"Heh, that's yet another story. But I think we've done enough sitting around for now. I say we stretch our legs, get some lunch, and we'll continue this story later on."  
  
"Sounds like a plan to me. Hey, let's grab Ken while we're at it. He's spent way too much time this summer with his face stuck in books."  
  
"I couldn't agree more."  
  
TK gathered up his things and the two friends went off in search of their braniac companion, eager to try and get him to enjoy what was left of the summer outside of his studies. 


	12. Hallelujah, part 2

Hallelujah, Part 2  
  
Yolei let out a contented sigh as she felt the heat of the hot springs' water permeate her body. It was just what she needed to unwind and relax. She heard a similar sigh from just across the way and smirked, seeing Kari react the same to the water. For as much as Yolei needed this, Kari needed it even more.  
  
"I told you this was a good idea." Yolei told her as she stretched out.  
  
"Ooohhh.I could get used to this." Kari replied. "Too bad the boys couldn't come with us."  
  
"Are you kidding me? I needed a break from Matt or I was going to start beating him in public." Sora added as she stretched her neck.  
  
"Is that to say that."  
  
"Don't even finish that sentence, Yolei."  
  
"Heh, sorry Sora. But you kind asked for it."  
  
"So anyhow, you know what I'm going to ask you next right?" Sora said, scooting over a bit closer to Yolei. Kari moved in likewise, but was unsure of what Sora meant.  
  
"I should've known this would come up." Yolei said with a groan.  
  
"Then fess up. How was it?"  
  
"How was what?" Kari asked.  
  
"Um.Sora, maybe we should have this conversation later?" Yolei asked nervously. "I mean, all things considering."  
  
"You slept with TK, didn't you?" Kari blurted out, suddenly realizing what was going on. Yolei sighed and nodded to her. Kari felt her face turn bright red as a few different feelings and thoughts ran through her head.  
  
"Kari, I."  
  
"I'm okay, Yolei. Really." Kari said, shaking it off quickly. "Sometimes I still have a hard time accepting you and TK being together is all."  
  
"You're just like your brother there, Kari, so don't worry too much." Sora told her.  
  
"I'm not worried. Davis is there for me, after all."  
  
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that." Yolei said, sitting up a bit. "How did you two manage to get back together?"  
  
"First I have to ask, do you want the short version or the long version?" Kari asked.  
  
"Try to find a happy medium, Kari." Sora told her. "As much as I like this hot spring, I don't want to end up a prune either."  
  
"So noted." Kari giggled a bit at Sora's comment. "Well, let's see.you guys know that I pretty much isolated myself for about a week or so after what happened between TK and I. Actually, it was a week to the day."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Kari groaned audibly as she closed her bathrobe while approaching the door. The doorbell had been ringing for about 2 minutes now, and her annoyance level was reaching critical mass. She stepped down into the genkan and opened the door, putting on her best angry face.  
  
"What?!" she yelled as she opened to door. Davis hopped back a bit, startled by her sudden appearance. She sighed inwardly as she saw it was him. 'Oh great. The next to last guy I wanted to see right now.'  
  
"Man, Kari, you look terrible." Davis said, recovering. "Mind if I come in for a bit?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Umm.okay, then. I'll try again later."  
  
"Wait, I'm. I'm sorry, Davis. Come on in." Kari said, smacking her forehead. Davis nodded and stepped past her quickly, removing his shoes at the genkan before proceeding further. Kari closed the door behind them and returned to the couch, flopping down onto it again.  
  
"So.um, whatcha been up to?" Davis asked as he looked around the apartment.  
  
"Not much more than this." Kari replied from the couch as she returned to channel surfing on the TV. "So are you here on your own, or did Tai send you?"  
  
"Tai did ask me to come here, but at first I didn't want to." "Can't say I blame you. So why are you here, then? Did he threaten to beat you up, or are you here to try and profess your feelings for me again?"  
  
"Kari, I."  
  
Davis stopped himself and laughed a bit, shaking his head. Kari looked up at him curiously.  
  
"You know what? Forget this." He said, turning for the door. "I came over here because I figured you needed a friend more than anything else right now. Someone you could just talk to who wouldn't try to be anything else than a friend. Obviously you're just content to wallow in your own self pity, so have it your way."  
  
Davis began to reach for his shoes to put them back on, cursing himself for letting Tai talk him into coming over.  
  
"Please.don't go." Kari said weakly. Davis looked over at her and saw her sitting up, her eyes red and swollen, yet tearful again. Seeing her that sad tore at him, more because he felt there wasn't a whole lot he could do to ease her sadness.  
  
"It absolutely crushed me.how he said it." She continued, choking her tears back. "How he said, 'I can't do this.' For the first couple of days I didn't know who to be more angry with: TK, Yolei, or myself. I got over that part, but now I just can't stop crying. Every time I think of him, I see them together and how happy they must be.and knowing that I could never be the one that makes him happy.it's all too much to bear."  
  
Kari had begun to sob again, and that was all Davis needed for a reason to stay. He walked back over to the couch and sat opposite Kari in a nearby chair, watching her and listening carefully.  
  
"Do you have any idea what this feels like? Knowing that you could never be 'that special someone' to the person you care about most?" Kari asked after she stopped sobbing.  
  
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do." Davis said, his own expression darkening a bit. Kari almost smacked herself for forgetting about what she'd done to him weeks ago at the amusement park.  
  
"Davis.I'm so sorry that happened. It's just at that time."  
  
"No need to apologize, Kari. It was the wake up call I'd been needing for a while." Davis told her, managing a smile. "I mean, you put up with me for a long time. Nobody else would have. Heck, Jun can barely stand being around me for a few minutes before she starts yelling at me or hitting me, and she's my sister!"  
  
"You take so much abuse, Davis.how do you manage it?"  
  
"I dunno really. Jun says it's because I resemble one of those blow-up clown dolls. You know, the ones little kids are always trying to knock over, but keep flopping back up?"  
  
Davis acted out just what he said by falling out of his chair to the floor, only to get right back up and sit in it again. Kari couldn't help but laugh at both his analogy and his antics.  
  
"I've always been a glutton for punishment, I guess." He continued. "But I never let it keep me down for long. I can't."  
  
"I wish I could be like that." Kari said after she stopped laughing.  
  
"Why can't you be?"  
  
"We Kamiyas have a bad history of keeping grudges."  
  
"Yeah, you guys gotta work on that."  
  
Davis stood back up and stepped over near the couch, looking down at Kari all the while.  
  
"Look, I know you might not be ready to face them again yet, but you shouldn't shut yourself down completely Kari. Getting back on your feet can be rough sometimes, believe me I know. That's why I just wanted to let you know.I'm here whenever you need a hand to get back up. I always will be. And not because I'm trying to impress you, or any stupid macho reason, but because you're my friend, and I hate seeing you so sad and hurt."  
  
Kari looked up at Davis again, taking in his words for a bit. He smiled back at her. It wasn't one of his usual, stupid grins, but a smile of genuine caring that almost seemed to warm her and lift her spirits in a way that only he seemed to be able to do.  
  
"Well, enough preaching from me. I just wanted to stop by and see if you were okay. I'll, um, check in with you again soon."  
  
Davis began to head for the door again, and that's when Kari made a decision: A decision to get up.  
  
"Hang on, Davis." She said, standing up from the couch. "Can you hang around for a few minutes?"  
  
"I guess. Why?"  
  
"I'm going to go clean up and get dressed. Let's go do something."  
  
"You sure about this?"  
  
Kari just nodded, with a small smile, and headed back to her room. Several minutes later, she was dressed and cleaned up and left her apartment with Davis.  
  
"Where should we go?"  
  
"I don't care. Just somewhere we can go and be alone and talk. How about lunch and a walk around town?"  
  
"I'm on board for anything!"  
  
As the pair headed for a fast food restaurant, they started their conversation about everything that was on their minds and in their hearts. It would be a long talk, but one of healing, and more importantly, new beginnings.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"I knew Davis had to have a sweeter side to him." Yolei said thoughtfully. "I always figured he just hid it because he tried to be a tough guy."  
  
"Knowing how his family is, I can't say I blame him. His sister can be kind of thoughtless sometimes." Kari added. "But when he's around me anymore, he's just nicer than words can describe. He listens to me, we talk, we share thoughts.he's more supportive of me than I ever realized before."  
  
"Nice to hear it's working out, then." Sora added with a smile.  
  
"Well, sometimes he can still be a bit too much, you know? But yeah, it's beginning to work."  
  
"With that, I suggest we step on out and dry off a bit, and then let Yolei tell us all about her and TK's night of passion, just like she promised." Sora said, reaching for a towel as she stepped out of the spring.  
  
"I couldn't agree more." Kari replied, doing likewise.  
  
"Wait a sec, I promised nothing of the sort! Get back here!"  
  
Yolei grabbed a towel and began to chase after the other two as they all ducked into the locker room, laughing their heads off.  
  
A short while later, the trio sat outside a small café down the road from the hot springs, enjoying some desserts. Sora had a piece of strawberry cheescake, Kari had a slice of apple pie and Yolei had some lemon sorbet.  
  
"Please, guys, don't make me talk about it. Just thinking about it makes me all, well." Yolei said pleadingly.  
  
"Embarassed?" Kari asked.  
  
"Hot and bothered?" Sora asked.  
  
"A little of both, really." Yolei replied, her face reddening. "I'm just not really comfortable about talking about things like that with anyone but Takeru."  
  
"So then tell us how you guys started thinking about doing it, then." Sora said. "I totally understand that it's a big decision, but how did you two deal with it?"  
  
"That I think I can handle." Yolei said, sitting up a bit again. "I think it was a few days before the Festival."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"I'm saying it again. Your mom has to be one of the coolest people I know." Yolei said as she set her things down in the living room. "She actually trusts us both enough to let me stay overnight while my family is away."  
  
"Explain to me again how you got left out of your family's trip." TK said, carrying Yolei's other bag inside for her.'  
  
"Because they're going to Disneyland for my younger siblings, and that's not exactly my speed anymore."  
  
"Whatever you say. At least we get to spend more time together."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Yolei moved over to TK, hugging him tightly as he set his bag down.  
  
"And any time I spend with you is a vacation as far as I'm concerned, Takeru."  
  
"Sorry your accommodations won't exactly be the most comfortable around, though."  
  
"Eh, I've slept on worse than a couch. I hate sleeping bags, by the way."  
  
"That explains why you never take Sora up on the offer to join her sleepovers."  
  
"Well there's that, and there's the fact that sleepovers are pretty boring from my experience. Just a bunch of girls talking about fluff and nonsense."  
  
"As always with such things, I defer to your experience." TK bowed melodramatically after his statement, eliciting a giggle from Yolei. "Make yourself at home. Want something to drink?"  
  
"Please! It's way to hot today."  
  
TK nodded in agreement and headed to the kitchen, returning with two glasses of ice water for them. The young couple did their best to relax and stay cool until Ms. Takaishi came home with dinner. Later that night, TK and Yolei sat on the couch watching TV after Ms. Takaishi had headed to bed.  
  
"Your mom sure goes to bed early." Yolei commented.  
  
"She does so much during the day that she gets worn out easily. This is actually normal for her."  
  
Yolei nodded as she stretched out, fanning herself with a magazine she'd found.  
  
"It's just crazy hot tonight. And humid for that matter."  
  
"No kidding. Mind if I just take off my shirt?"  
  
"Hmm, gee.no, I don't mind." Yolei said playfully. TK smirked at her and pulled his t-shirt off, using it to wipe off some of the sweat on him.  
  
Yolei bit her lower lip a little at the sight. The last time she'd seen his bare torso was at the basketball game where the two of them had done quite a bit of flirting. This was a much more private setting than that had been.  
  
"You're very attractive, you know Takeru?" Yolei said appreciatively.  
  
"Thanks, I think."  
  
"It was a compliment, you know."  
  
"I know, I'm just.you know, not used to hearing stuff like that."  
  
"Well it's true. The disparity between you and me is amazing."  
  
"Don't put yourself down like that. You're an incredibly pretty girl, Yolei."  
  
"I'm certainly no Sora or Mimi. Or."  
  
"Or Kari?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Yolei, you know how you tell me not to compare myself to my brother? Well, don't compare yourself to other girls. You're a fantastic young woman, who I find very attractive as well."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really really." TK grinned at her.  
  
"Hmm.I'm not convinced." Yolei said, looking at TK slyly. "Maybe if we were on an even keel."  
  
Yolei continued to smile at her somewhat clueless boyfriend as she reached for the bottom of her t-shirt. TK quickly caught on.  
  
"Um, Yolei.are you sure that's."  
  
"Relax, Takeru."  
  
Yolei finished her motion, removing her t-shirt. To TK's relief, somewhat, Yolei was wearing a bra. He still felt suddenly rather uncomfortable, though. Yolei was enjoying his reaction.  
  
"So how about now? Am I still attractive?" she asked, leaning forward towards TK.  
  
"Y-yes." TK said, nervously.  
  
"So you like what you see, then?"  
  
"How could I not?"  
  
Yolei smiled at him, seeing how nervous he was acting. She found it rather cute. Her smile slowly faded, though, as she looked down and began appreciating TK's form as well. TK hesitantly reached his hand up to Yolei's exposed stomach, touching her skin gently.  
  
"Do you remember.that last time we were like this?" he asked, his voice hushed.  
  
"It was another hot day, and we were soaking wet from the rain." Yolei replied as she traced around his chest with one finger lightly.  
  
"It was a very tempting situation.just like this."  
  
"Your mom is asleep, you know."  
  
"I know."  
  
"How quiet can you be?"  
  
"Pretty quiet. You?"  
  
"Dunno. Let's find out."  
  
The young couple first kissed, and then shifted on the couch so that Yolei lay on top of TK. As things intensified into a full make out session, each of them did their best to stay quiet while enjoying their situation immensely. Their hands roamed all over each other's bodies as they kissed, losing all track of time. When they finally stopped for a quick breather, they realized they had been at it for almost half an hour.  
  
Yolei sat up a bit, looking down at TK as she tried to catch her breath. She was almost beyond rational thought, as her mind was focused on her desire for him. TK, likewise, looked almost overcome with desire as well. Slowly, Yolei began to reach up behind her back to her bra clasp. In a moment of clarity, TK snapped out of his trance and snatched her hands before she could finish her motion.  
  
"Wh-why?" she asked, a bit surprised and hurt.  
  
"Not.not now, Yolei. Not like this." He breathed.  
  
"But Takeru."  
  
"Yolei, I love you.and believe me if I thought I was prepared for it I'd see no reason why we shouldn't.have."  
  
".have sex."  
  
"Yes. But.I don't have any kind of protection."  
  
"Neither do I, and I'm not on the pill yet either."  
  
"I love you too much to take that kind of chance."  
  
"I know. I love you too, Takeru, just as much. But when will be right?"  
  
"Just give me a little more time, love. I promise I won't make you wait long."  
  
"Okay. You sure you wouldn't still like a little show, though?" Yolei teased him a bit as she reached back behind her back with one arm.  
  
"Not this time, Yolei."  
  
Yolei sighed inwardly and let her hands fall back to her sides. She had to smile at him, though. Most guys wouldn't be as sweet or thoughtful as TK was in such a situation. It made her appreciate him even more.  
  
"If ever you needed proof that you're not Matt, I think you got it tonight Takeru." She said quietly as she lay back down on him, resting her head on his chest. "Is this okay?"  
  
"This is always okay." He replied, stroking her hair gently. Yolei closed her eyes, as the touch of his hand relaxed her completely. She could feel consciousness slipping away as she lay there, but managed one last comment before she fell asleep.  
  
"I love you so much, Takeru."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Looking back on it all, I'm glad we waited a bit longer." Yolei said, finishing her sorbet. "And believe me, it was all worth the wait."  
  
"I can only imagine. TK being Matt's brother, I can only assume it was enjoyable." Sora said, a bit of a smile on her face.  
  
"Oh you got that right."  
  
"Only one thing bothers me about it, though." Kari said. Yolei looked over at her, to see that she was visibly embarrassed by the topic. "You and TK were together for what? 2 months? Isn't that moving kind of fast?"  
  
"Maybe it is, but on the other hand we knew each other well ahead of time. I mean, we were friends long before he and I started going out. And even discounting that, I love him deeply, Kari. When we both made up our minds that there was nobody else we'd rather be with, all that was left was for an opportunity to present itself. And it did."  
  
"But when did you decide the time was right? When did you both realize you wanted to take that step?" Kari asked, pressing the conversation even further.  
  
"You ask like you're wondering yourself, Kari." Sora interjected. "Could it be you're beginning to have some stronger feelings for Davis?"  
  
"Umm.this is about Yolei, not me!" Kari said defensively. Sora and Yolei both snickered a bit at Kari's defensiveness.  
  
"It didn't happen overnight, Kari." Yolei said, returning to the question. "Nor did we just both wake up one day and admit that we wanted to do it. It was kind of a silent realization for both of us."  
  
"So when did you realize that he was your one and only?" Sora asked, leaning across the table. Yolei sat back and sighed happily as she thought back to when it all came together. She looked across the table and told Sora and Kari the answer, with a contented smile on her face.  
  
"The Summer Festival." 


	13. Hallelujah, part3

Hallelujah, Part 3  
  
Davis and Ken sat, a look of shock on their faces as they stared at TK. After they were silent for several moments, TK rolled his eyes and broke the silence.  
  
"I should've known you guys would overreact." He said.  
  
"You...and Yolei..." Davis said, his voice full of amazement. "You two...did it?"  
  
"I'm beginning to wish I hadn't told you."  
  
"Does Matt know?" Ken asked.  
  
"He probably thinks we have, and that's enough for him. I'm guessing Sora's getting the details out of Yolei today herself."  
  
"So what was it like?" Davis asked, eager for more information.  
  
"Oh no, I'm not getting into that trap."  
  
"You can be a real stick in the mud sometimes, VK."  
  
"Whatever. Let's get back to the point at hand." TK said, wanting a change of topic. "How did you get Kari to change her mind about the Festival, Davis?"  
  
"This I've got to hear." Ken added.  
  
"Believe me, it wasn't easy. We got right down to the wire, too. It was maybe a couple days before the Festival, and I'd been trying for days to convince her..."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"I'll credit you with this much, Davis: you're persistent." Kari said in a mildly annoyed tone. The two were sitting in the park, talking yet again about going to the Summer Festival.  
  
"I'm not giving up. You still haven't given me a good reason for not going, Kari." Davis replied, crossing his arms.  
  
"You mean other than the fact that I just don't want to go?"  
  
"Just tell me why, that's all I'm asking."  
  
"Davis, please...I'll go anywhere else you want, just not to the Festival."  
  
Davis sighed, leaning forward, his hands on his knees. He turned his head, looking at Kari, who was trying to avert her eyes from him. He could tell something was upsetting her, and he had a fair guess what it was.  
  
"It's about them, isn't it? That's why you don't want to go." He said.  
  
"And so you bring it up anyway. Thanks, Davis." Kari said, closing her eyes.  
  
"Kari, you can't let this keep running your life! Sooner or later you've got to face them and not get all emotional."  
  
"I know. It's just...every time I see them, I remember what I used to feel for him and..."  
  
Kari's voice trailed off, but before she could try and recover she noticed that Davis' spirits had suddenly fallen as well. He looked like he was a mixture of angry and despondent, and she could only guess that all his emotions were directed back at himself.  
  
"I've tried to help you put it behind you, Kari." Davis said, hanging his head again. "I guess maybe it's not enough. I'm such a failure."  
  
"Don't say that!"  
  
Davis suddenly felt his arm being squeezed by Kari, and looked up. She was much closer to him, her eyes looking almost desperate.  
  
"You don't know what your support has meant to me, Davis! Without you, I'd still be at home, wallowing in sadness."  
  
"But you're still sad, Kari. I can see it behind your eyes." Davis touched her face gently as he spoke. "I wish I knew what I could do to erase all that pain."  
  
"Just be there for me, Davis." Kari said, leaning into his hand a little. It felt comforting to her, and comfort was something she hadn't felt for quite some time now. "I will get past this, I promise. But I don't think I can do it without you."  
  
"You...you mean that?"  
  
"I never thought I'd say it, but if there's someone who could take TK's place in my heart...it might just be you."  
  
Kari finally opened her eyes, and managed a smile at Davis as she took his hand into hers, kissing his palm gently. Davis swallowed audibly at the sign of affection, which caused Kari to chuckle a bit, seeing his nervousness.  
  
"That is, of course, if you still have a thing for me." She added with a wink.  
  
'I always have.' Davis thought to himself as he met her perfect, brown eyes with his gaze. "I'll always be there for you, Kari. I promise."  
  
"Well, then, since you'll be there for me, let's do this Festival thing, shall we?"  
  
"Huh? But I thought...? Just a minute ago you...?"  
  
"I'm a girl, Davis. I'm allowed to change my mind whenever I want." Kari said simply as she sat back again. "Besides, it means a lot to you, and all we've been doing lately are what I want to do."  
  
"Only if you're sure."  
  
Kari just nodded again, and then hopped up onto her feet again.  
  
"Now come on, you've got to help me." She said.  
  
"Help you?" Davis asked quizzically.  
  
"Pick out what to wear! I've got to look nice for our date after all. Honestly, sometimes you can be a bit dense, Davis."  
  
"Heh, well that's one of the reasons I like being around you, Kari. You keep me on my toes!"  
  
Davis went to stand up, only to trip over his own feet and end up on his face. Kari gasped a bit as he fell, but he just chuckled as he looked up at her with his usual goofy grin.  
  
"Even when I can't even stand on my own two feet!"  
  
The two gave into a fit of laughter as Kari helped Davis back to his feet. They then headed off for downtown, to start a spot of shopping and prepare for the coming Summer Festival.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Even up to the day of the Festival I tried to convince myself not to go, because I wouldn't be able to face you and TK." Kari said, looking over at Yolei as they rode back towards Odaiba in Sora's car. "But after all Davis had done for me, I wanted to do something for him in return. I convinced myself that whatever happened, I'd deal with it once and for all."  
  
"I admire you for that, Kari. I know it must've taken a lot to decide to come to the Festival, all things considering." Yolei said as she looked over at her friend.  
  
"So what all happened at the Festival? Matt and I missed out on it this year because he had a concert halfway across town." Sora asked, looking back at the pair as she drove.  
  
"It's Yolei's turn to do some storytelling." Kari said, deferring to her indigo-haired friend.  
  
"Yeah, I want to hear about your side, considering how romantic you've told us it was."  
  
"Well, bear with me, because I might wax a bit nostalgic on you both." Yolei said, smiling as she looked out her window, remembering as if it all happened just a few moments ago. "Takeru came to pick me up to head to the Festival at about 4 or so..."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
TK shifted about listlessly outside Yolei's front door as he waited for her. He was dressed as nicely as he ever remembered being. He wore brown slacks with dark socks and brown colored deck shoes, with a cream colored buttoned shirt and a patterned tie with a mix of brown and white shapes on it. He decided against cologne or any kind of jewelry, as that was just part of his style.  
  
'I wonder if I'm right on my guess as to which dress she picked?' he thought as he looked up at the sky, which was already a bit more dim as the sun was just beginning to set. 'Not like it matters. She's really very pretty to me no matter what she wears.'  
  
'Sometimes I worry that we are moving too fast, especially for our ages. But being with her...it just feels so right! I can't help but feel good whenever I see her. I really do love Yolei.'  
  
Just then, TK heard the door open and close behind him, followed by a few footsteps as someone stepped up behind him. He inhaled deeply, his nose picking up the faint yet familiar scent of jasmine. He turned around, and was pleasantly surprised to see that his suspicions had been confirmed.  
  
Yolei wore a dark blue, Chinese-style dress that was trimmed with white around the neck, sleeves, and on the slit that reached most of the way up her left thigh. If she was wearing makeup, it was light enough that TK couldn't tell if she was wearing any at all. Her shoulder-length indigo hair was done up in a bun at the back of her head, and held in place with a single, ornate silver chopstick. She was without her glasses, and also wore a set of silver earrings with a silver choker around her neck, all of which had been borrowed from her mother's jewelry set. Finally, she had on a pair of black shoes without heels. TK had to smile inwardly. No matter how fancy the rest of her looked, Yolei was insistent that she at least have comfortable shoes on.  
  
"Hope I didn't keep you waiting to long." she said a bit nervously.  
  
"For this, I would've waited any amount of time. Yolei, you look breathtaking." TK approached her as he spoke, smiling a bit sheepishly.  
  
"You look pretty handsome yourself, Takeru."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Well, we shouldn't hang around complimenting each other all night."  
  
Having said that, Yolei took TK's arm and slid up close to him, causing him to blush and smile a bit more. He tensed for a moment, but then relaxed as they began to head for the Festival.  
  
The Summer Festival was one of the heralds of the end of summer in Odaiba. It was a full-fledged Japanese festival, centered around the Shinto shrine. There would be music, shops lining the pathway, dancing, games, and all sorts of other distractions. For younger kids, it was a chance to have some real fun before school started again. TK had much more romantic things in mind for the night, however.  
  
The main thoroughfare of the Festival was crawling with people, and at first TK and Yolei worried that they wouldn't be able to get through at all. The closer they got, though, the less crowded they realized it was and before they knew it they were strolling along, looking at all the various shops set up alongside the road.  
  
"No plushies this time, okay?" Yolei said as TK got a gleam in his eye looking at a game.  
  
"You'll never be able to catch up with Sora if I don't get you one." TK replied simply as he made his way over to the game.  
  
"You're hopeless, you know?" Yolei smirked at him as she followed him over. A few moments later they were on their way again, with Yolei carrying a small hedgehog plush doll. "Any other spontaneous things you plan on doing tonight?"  
  
"Now if I told you, they wouldn't be spontaneous would they?" TK grinned at her.  
  
"True enough. Of course, I get to be spontaneous too, then."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
Yolei smiled to herself as she bumped playfully up against TK, hugging his arm tightly to her.  
  
"Yeah! You got a problem with that?"  
  
"If the rest of your spontaneous ideas are like this, absolutely not."  
  
"Good! Now then, something else spontaneous...I know! How about the sideshow?"  
  
"Where they have all the freaky looking stuff?" TK said, somewhat warily.  
  
"Yeah, c'mon! It'll be too cool!"  
  
TK knew better than to try and talk Yolei out of anything once she thought it was "cool" and the pair made their way to the sideshow, much to TK's chagrin.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Ah the pitfalls of a relationship. Makes me glad I'm not even looking right now." Ken said with a chuckle.  
  
"Don't worry, Ken. The love bug will probably bite you soon enough, and probably harder than any of us." Davis told him. "Anyhow, I remember that last part because it was a very near miss for me as far as I was concerned at the time."  
  
"How do you figure?" TK asked with a raised eyebrow at Davis. "I mean, later on that evening..."  
  
"Whoa, don't get ahead of yourself TD. One thing at a time. See, Kari and I had been at the Festival for a while before you guys even got there..."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Oh so many horrible creatures in here!" Kari said in a mock-distressed voice. "Is there no valiant knight that could save me from such peril?"  
  
"Help is at hand, dear lady!" Davis chimed in, moving in front of Kari. "I shall lead you to your freedom!"  
  
The two had entered the sideshow some time ago, and had enjoyed some of the weird things inside, but it had gotten a bit boring since they both had seen it all before at Festivals in prior years. So they decided to liven it up a bit with Kari acting like a damsel in distress and Davis being her shining knight. They went through the rest of the sideshow like that, at each stop Davis making like he was fighting off some horrible beast to protect Kari.  
  
They were just beginning to reach the end when Davis happened to look towards the entrance and saw Yolei and TK making their way in.  
  
'Oh crap! What do I do? I can't let Kari see them!' he thought in a panic.  
  
"I can almost see the exit, sir knight, we're...whoaaaa!!!"  
  
As Davis had begun to panic, Kari had tripped on a loose stone in the ground and went tumbling into Davis, knocking them both down. Davis recovered quickly and turned to check on Kari, deftly placing himself in her line of sight so she wouldn't see TK and Yolei.  
  
"Are you alright, milady?" he asked, looking her over.  
  
"Yes. Nothing hurt but my pride." she said, half-smiling at him. Davis smiled back at her, offering her his hand.  
  
"That is something that, for you, has taken quite a beating. Perhaps I can help you recover some, though?"  
  
"I'd like nothing better."  
  
Kari smiled brightly again as she took his hand. Davis helped her to her feet and then began to head back out again, only to notice that Kari was still holding his hand.  
  
"You don't mind, do you?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"No, no! Not at all!" he replied, squeezing her hand gently. Kari nodded and the two exited the sideshow without further incident. "So, what would you like to do now?"  
  
"Let's just walk for a bit." Kari said, looking around. Davis nodded and the two headed up towards the shring, hand in hand.  
  
"I know I've said it about a dozen times already today, but you really look great Kari." Davis said, looking sidewise at her. She wore a simple, white sun dress with a gold heart pendant and pearl earrings. Nothing complicated, but in Davis' opinion Kari didn't need to do much to look great.  
  
"And who knew you cleaned up so well, too? You could be a real girl magnet tonight, Davis." Kari replied, smiling back at him. Davis wore black slacks and a dark blue buttoned shirt with a matching solid color tie. Darker colors suited him well, and Kari found herself appreciating him quite a bit.  
  
"Maybe, but I'm not here for that. I could never do something like that anyway."  
  
"Why not? A few years from now I could see girls lining up to want to go out with you."  
  
Davis didn't respond, not wanting to ruin the night by letting his emotions get in the way of making sure Kari had a good time.  
  
'Your happiness is all I care about right now, Kari.' he thought. 'I wish I could say it to you, but I know you don't want to hear stuff like that right now.'  
  
'What's it going to take to get him to say he likes me again?' Kari thought to herself. 'I think I could be ready again now to have someone in my life, and right now I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with than you, Davis. We were best buddies as little kids, then best friends before everything happened, and we still are best friends now. It's taken me so long to appreciate all you've been for me and all you've done for me, and I know you've suffered along the way...before this night is over, I'll get it out of you. And who knows? Maybe there'll be a bit of a surprise in store for you tonight to boot.'  
  
"Hey, wanna stop and rest for a while? We've been walking around quite a bit." Davis asked after they walked for quite a ways in silence.  
  
"Sure. I'm a bit hungry and thirsty too. Could we get some dinner?"  
  
"Absolutely! Get whatever you want, Kari. It's my treat."  
  
Kari smiled and squeezed Davis' hand again. The two then set to finding their dinner for the night, as well as a quiet spot where just the two of them could eat alone and be together.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"I couldn't believe that Davis managed to keep me from seeing you guys at the sideshow. At the time it was incredibly considerate of him, although in hindsight it was kinda silly with what ended up happening later on." Kari said as she sat up in her seat in the car a bit.  
  
"Sounds like there was more than one romance going on that night, then." Sora noted with a smile. "So what happened next?"  
  
"Yolei, you're at bat again." Kari said, smirking at her friend.  
  
"Well, only one more thing I can mention, and this was the really romantic part." Yolei said in a dreamy tone. "But for this, I'll need a bit of a visual aid."  
  
"Visual aid?" Kari and Sora said in unison. Yolei reached into her purse and pulled something out that she kept in her palm. She slid her left hand over her right and then presented her right hand, which now had a silver adornment on the ring finger.  
  
"This is called a claddaugh* ring..." (A/N: Pronounced clad-ow)  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"At long last, the peak!" Tk said in a relieved tone. The hike to the top of the hill, where the shrine was, was rather taxing and both he and Yolei stopped to catch their breath.  
  
"That's a lot steeper than it looks!" Yolei said as she caught her breath.  
  
"Yeah, but look at the view from up here!" TK said, pointing out at the horizon. Yolei looked up and gasped. The whole pathway was dotted with lights, leading back to the city, which was dark as the sunset blazed in the sky behind it. A thousand different colors played over the sky. A gentle summer breeze played by them, and Yolei instantly felt relaxed. She then felt TK's arms go around her waist as he stepped up behind her, and she smiled as she leaned back into him.  
  
"Just when I think you couldn't be any more romantic, you go and do things like this." she said to him quietly. "Like you think you need to win me over any more than you already have."  
  
"Oh, I'm not done yet Yolei." TK told her. "I just wanted to have the right place to give you something."  
  
"Give me something?" Yolei repeated.  
  
TK smiled and stepped around to face her. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out but kept his fist clenched around it. He took her hand in his and placed something in her palm, keeping his hand over hers for a moment.  
  
"I give you this, just as I've given you my heart Yolei." he said, locking his eyes with hers. "I can only hope you like it."  
  
TK let go of her hand and Yolei almost jumped out of her skin. There was a small, silver ring in her hand. It was an odd looking ring, though. It didn't have a jewel set into it. Instead it had a design of two hands holding a heart with a crown on it.  
  
"It's called a claddaugh ring. Mimi told me about them once online, and she even helped me get one to give to you." TK told her. "She said it's an old Irish tradition for young women. When you wear it on your right hand with the heart facing out, it means you're looking for a boyfriend. But when the heart is facing in, it means...you're seeing someone."  
  
"Takeru...it's-it's beautiful." Yolei said, breathtaken. "And I know just how I should be wearing it, too."  
  
She carefully placed the ring on her right ring finger, with the heart facing inwards, and smiled at TK as a couple of tears fell down her cheeks.  
  
"I love you, Takeru. More than I can describe."  
  
TK stepped closer to her, and the two began to kiss, letting the rest of the world just fade away into the background. They stopped kissing after several long, seemingly unending moments.  
  
"I'll wear it as often as I can, Takeru. Though I think my folks might freak out if they saw me wearing a ring given to me by my boyfriend." Yolei told him with a giggle.  
  
"I can understand that. I think everyone else would freak out as well."  
  
"But it doesn't mean I love you any less."  
  
"Same here, love."  
  
"Well then, shall we get going again?"  
  
"Absolutely."  
  
The two turned to head back down the path, only to stop dead in their tracks as they came face to face with another, very faimilar, pair.  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
"Now here's the question I'm dying to have answered." TK said, standing up and stepping in front of Davis. "Just how much of all of what happened between Yolei and I did you guys see?"  
  
"We saw the parts that mattered." Davis said. "We had finished dinner, and Kari wanted to head up to the shrine because she figured it was secluded and we could talk alone there..."  
  
_ _ _ _ _  
  
Neither of them could hear what was being said, but the look on Yolei's face said it all. Kari and Davis watched intently as they saw her put what looked like a ring on her right ring finger, and then she and TK began kissing.  
  
"TK...gave her a ring?" Kari said weakly.  
  
"Kari...I'm sorry." Davis said, his spirits suddenly falling. "I guess I failed you again."  
  
"Davis?"  
  
Kari turned and saw the despondent look in his eyes. She could sense something was weighing heavy on his heart, and she could only hope he was about to say what she thought.  
  
"I guess I'll never be able to take TK's place in your heart." he said, looking away from her. "No matter how much I...how much I like you. Your happiness is everything to me, and seeing you suffer like this is just..."  
  
"Davis, it's okay. Really." Kari said as she stepped up behind him. She put her hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her. Davis was amazed to see she was smiling at him. "And besides, you just said the magic words."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Come on, let's go see the happy couple." she said, tugging on his hand.  
  
"Are you okay, Kari?"  
  
"Truth be told, I've never been better."  
  
They headed back up the path and met with TK and Yolei just as they were beginning to head back down. Yolei was quick to try and cover her right hand as she saw them.  
  
"Hey there guys. Having a bit of a romantic interlude?" Kari asked brightly. "Don't forget to invite us to the wedding, too!"  
  
That one comment sent TK and Yolei into a fluster of trying to explain themselves. When they realized how silly they were being, all four of them broke out into raucus laughter.  
  
"As much as we'd like to stay here and laugh along with you two and laugh, I'm sure you have places you want to be." Kari said.  
  
"Yeah. You guys as well." TK said. "And Kari? I'm, well..."  
  
"Don't even finish that sentence, TK." Kari told him, smiling back at him. "Everything has worked out how it was meant to."  
  
"Can we still be friends?"  
  
"I wouldn't have it any other way."  
  
TK nodded at her and then took Yolei's by the hand, leading her back down the path, and bidding Davis and Kari a good night.  
  
"Kari, I'm amazed! Does this mean you're actually...well, over it all?" Davis asked after TK and Yolei were out of earshot.  
  
"I don't know, Davis. Part of me will always care for TK. But I know now that Yolei has his heart, and she'll treat him well. He's happy, and that's good enough by me." Kari said. She then turned to face Davis. "But you know, he's not the only one I want to be happy. Someone else I know deserves a little happiness too."  
  
Kari sauntered up close to Davis as she spoke, smiling slyly at him. Davis felt his heart rate rise as she approached him. He felt her arms drape around his shoulders, her hands playing through his hair gently.  
  
"He's done so much for me, helping me get back on my feet. My friend...my shining knight when I was in peril...and I think he deserves a reward right about now." she said in a hushed tone. And before Davis could speak, it happened. He was being kissed by Kari, his dream girl. He just let all his worries go and held her gently as he kissed her back, thinking how lucky he was to actually be living his dream. _ _ _ _ _  
  
"...and the rest is history." Davis said. "Kari and I have been together since then, and we keep things mixed between having fun and being serious. And if I wasn't crazy about her before, well I definitely am now."  
  
"Well, as enlightening and interesting as this was, I've got other ways to waste my time." Ken said, standing up and shaking his head. "Take it easy, you lovestruck fools."  
  
"Later Ken." TK said, waving to him. "Well, let's get going. The girls will be back soon, and I promised Yolei I'd meet up with her once they got back."  
  
"Likewise for me and Kari." Davis said, getting up and walking alongside TK. After a bit, he looked over at his friend. "Hey, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"Would you do anything differently? I mean, if you could go back and change how things happened this summer, would you?"  
  
"Yes I would, Davis. In one way." TK said, looking at his friend. "I'd have just started seeing Yolei from the start, and wouldn't have tried to mess with others' feelings."  
  
"I thought you might say something like that." Davis said, nodding in approval back at him.  
  
The two friends continued to share stories from the summer as they headed to the place where they would meet their respective girlfriends, both agreeing on one thing if nothing else: for all the bad things that happened that summer, for all the hurt feelings, deception, anger and angst that they all experienced; with how things turned out in the end, they wouldn't have traded any of it for the chance to fall in love. 


End file.
